Market Comment - 24.08.2021

Market retreats in Tuesday trades… The market slid back into the red in Tuesday’s session reversing gains registered yesterday. The primary All Share Index retreated 0.34% to close at 6823.60pts as the old Industrials eased a similar 0.34% to 22503.09pts. The Mining Index was 0.12% lower at 5921.79pts weighed down by waning Bindura which lost 0.19% to close at $4.7500. The Top Ten Index was 0.21% up at 3654.00pts spurred mainly by the duo of Econet and Delta. The market breadth was skewed in the negative direction as declining stocks outnumbered the risers by a count of twenty-two against seven. Proplastics was the worst performer of the day as it plunged 15.15% to end at $28.0000 with banking group Getbucks trailing on a 6.67% decline to $9.3333. Brick manufacturer Willdale extended its losses to settle at $2.8600 after letting go 5.80% while, a 4.94% loss in Ariston took its price back to $3.0008. Innscor dipped 4.38% to conclude the losers’ pack at $95.0136. Clothing retailers Edgars topped the risers of the day as it soared 11.32% to end pegged at $3.7554, followed by fintech group Cassava which closed at $16.9373 after a 5.02% jump, having traded at an intra-day high of $18.0000. Zimre Holdings added 2.24% to trade at 4.0929 while, telecoms giant Econet rose 2.10% to close at a vwap of $39.1187 on resurgent demand. Delta ticked up 1.03% to $87.6120 as it completed the top five gainers list. Activity aggregates improved as volume of shares traded went up 14.79% to 4.16m while, turnover increased 42.51% to $99.7m. Delta, Innscor and Econet were the top value leaders with a combined 58.78% contribution to the aggregate. Medtech, Cassava and Bindura were the top volume drivers as the trio accounted for 27.51%,11.55% and 10.68% of the outturn respectively. The Old Mutual Exchange traded fund rose 4.86% to settle at $2.3947 as 8,500units traded. Foreign sales amounted to $4.31m against a nil purchases position in the session. Elsewhere, no trades were registered in Padenga and SeedCo International on the VFEX.