Market Comment - 18.01.2023

ZSE records third day of losses... ZSE faltered for the third consecutive session as three of the indices under our review ended pointing southwards. The primary All-Share Index lost 1.09% to 21438.71pts while, the ZSE Top Ten Index eased 1.34% to 13295.91pts. The Midcap Index fell 0.47% to 42723.25pts while, the ZSE-Agriculture Index the only riser among its kind added 0.27% to 86.18pts. Headlining the laggards of the day were bankers First Capital that dropped 10.53% to $13.0363 recording losses for the sixth session. Following was fintech group Ecocash that slipped 8.10% to end pegged at $55.0877. Brick manufacturers Willdale trimmed 5.41% to $3.5000 while, conglomerate Innscor retreated 4.88% to $651.3916. Zimplow capped the top five shakers’ list on a 4.17% dip to close the day at $23.0000. Telecoms giant Econet led the winner’s pack on a 14.78% jump to $138.2263 while, plastics manufacturer Proplastics, surged 10.00% to $35.2000. Hotelier RTG grew 3.62% to $11.9167 while, Seed Co Limited climbed up 3.01% to $103.0000 post releasing a cautionary of its intent to migrate to VFEX . Fastening the top five gainers’ pack was First Mutual Holdings that advanced 1.69% to settle at $22.3710. Activity aggregates were enhanced in the session as volumes traded jumped 160.11% to 8.57m while, turnover soared 681.05% to $1.77bn. The gainers and fallers’ spectrum was equally distributed at twelve apiece. The top volume and valued drivers of the day were Econet and Innscor which accounted for a combined 83.90% of total volumes and 93.66% of the value outturn. Foreigners were net sellers in the session as outflows amounted to $870.83m against purchases of $8.67m. On the VFEX, Bindura and Padenga lost 10.00% and 0.17% to close at USD$0.0180 and USD$0.2945 respectively. Simbisa edged up 1.19% to USD$0.4857 on 3,490 shares. The Cass Saddle and the OMTT ETFs ticked up 0.51% and 0.10% to $1.9800 and $7.4900 accordingly while, the other three ETFS remained unchanged. The Tigere REIT dipped 6.88% to $46.5599 on 5,121 units.