Market Comment - 20.04.2022

ZSE reaps gains in the midweek session... ZSE reaped gains in the midweek session as the mainstream All-Share Index and the Industrial Index gained an identical 1.81% to close at 23250.54pts and 76887.09pts respectively. The Top Ten Index advanced 1.42% to close at 15231.03pts while, the Mid-cap Index put on 3.06% to settle at 39616.011pts. Thirty-eight counters registered price movements distributed into twenty-six risers and twelve fallers to see the market close with a positive breadth of fourteen. Conglomerate Meikles topped the gainers’ list of the day after jumping 19.54% to $191.3808, followed by Lafarge which soared 18.90% to $162.0000. OKZim improved 18.73% to end pegged at $59.3346 while, Zimpapers surged 16.10% to $3.1000. Milk producer Dairibord rounded up the top five winners of the day as it added 8.32% to close at $48.0000. First Mutual Holdings Limited led the laggards of the day on a 16.64% drop to $21.7023 while, bankers NMBZ succumbed 14.35% to $20.7525. Turnall dipped 12.50% to $7.0000 while, General Beltings shed 9.35% to $1.9981. ART slipped 6.85% to end pegged at $24.0179 capping the top five fallers' bunch. Activity aggregates reflected a positive outcome in Wednesday’s session as turnover improved 18.75% to $400.43m while, volume of shares traded enhanced 18.25% to 2.29m. Econet, First Capital bank and Delta were the day's top volume leaders, accounting for a combined 62.47% of overall volumes. Econet was the value leader with a margin of 54.01%, followed by Delta and Simbisa with contributions of 19.19% and 7.88%, respectively. Exchange Traded funds were mixed in the session, as Datvest ETF lost 1.77% to $1.8106 while, the Old Mutual ETF and Morgan & Co ETF put on 0.78% and 4.09% to close at $11.1015 and $19.4072 in that order. Padenga advanced 0.48% to USD$0.2110 as 4.72m shares exchanged hands.