Market Comment - 25.11.2021

ZSE retreats ahead of the budget... The ZSE continued to trend southwards ahead of the budget presentation by the Minister of Finance this afternoon. The primary All-Share Index slipped 1.51% to close at 10603.20pts while, the Industrial Index went down 1.54% to 35089.36pts. The Top Ten Index lost a further 2.12% to 6559.88pts as the Mining Index maintained gains from the previous session on a 2.04% rise to 6539.094pts. Topping the gainers’ pack was Medtech Holdings Class B which registered its first trade at $18.0000, followed by Medtech Holdings Class A that rose 14.10% to $50.6000. First Mutual Properties advanced 6.67% to $8.5333 while, ART Holdings added 5.26% to $11.0000. Sugar refinery Star Africa completed the top five winners’ set with a 4.87% rise to $1.2766. The day’s losers were headlined by conglomerate Meikles which dropped 17.14% to $145.0000, trailed by related group African Sun that shed 8.63% to close at $7.0453. Mashonaland Holdings was 6.84% lower at $4.1920 as fast foods retailer Simbisa Brands trimmed 5.41% to $80.1859. Capping the top five decliners of the day was Econet spin-off Cassava Smarttech which eased 4.58% to finish at $42.7415. The market closed with a negative breadth of one as fourteen counters advanced while, fifteen faltered. Activity aggregates were mixed as witnessed in turnover that ballooned 109.21% to $501.2m while, volume of shares exchanged retreated 34.14% to 10.2m. Masimba was the top volume and value driver of the day as it claimed 84.51% of the former and 82.26% of the latter. Delta was the other notable value driver on a 12.32% contribution. The Old Mutual ETF eased 2.08% to end at $5.2698 as 10,739 units worth $56,292.20 swapped hands. The VFEX registered no trades for the day. Foreign purchases dipped 67.43% to $79,305.00 as sales plummeted 71.80% to $3,592,000.00 to register a net funds outflow position.