Market Comment - 30.12.2021

Gains extend in penultimate session... The market registered its fifth straight trading day of gains in the penultimate session of 2021. The primary All Share Index rose 2.48% to 10867.57pts while, the Industrial Index put on 2.51% to 35913.00pts. The Blue chips Index added 2.84% to close at 6834.70pts. Gainers of the day were headlined by General Beltings which jumped 14.79% to $2.3000. Trailing was milk processor Dairibord on a 12.40% rise to end pegged at $36.0000. Regional seed manufacturer SeedCo Limited grew 8.95% to $110.1389 while, fintech group Cassava extended 8.38% to settle at $42.9356. Completing the top five risers of the day was construction group Masimba that stretched 7.84% to $55.0000. Other notable heavy cap gainers were Hippo (+5.17%), Delta (+4.05%), CBZ (+4.05%) and National Foods (1.82%). Medtech was the top decliner of the day on a 16.74% dip to $29.9744, followed by packaging group Nampak that shed 4.86% to $11.1569. Zimre Holdings retreated 3.38% to $3.7197 while, logistics concern Unifreight slid 3.33% to $29.0000 on selling pressure. Proplastics was down 2.53% at $28.9983 as it capped the top five losers of the day. A positive market breadth of eleven was registered with twenty counters gaining against twelve that lost ground as only two sailed stable. Volume of shares traded succumbed 66.16% to 2.18m while, turnover dropped 47.22% to $175.43m. The top volume contributors were Innscor, Star Africa, Econet, Simbisa and Delta which claimed a combined 59.01% of the total. Value drivers of the day were Innscor, Delta, Econet and Simbisa which accounted for a total of 77.30% of the outturn. The Old Mutual ETF added a negligible 0.02% to close at $4.3995 as 3.35m units exchanged hands. No trades were registered on the VFEX in Bindura, Caledonia, SeedCo International and Padenga.