Market Comment - 31.03.2022

ZSE rebounds in the month-end session... The market capped the month of March in the black, reversing prior session’s losses, lifted by gains in selected heavies. The All-share Index was up 0.88% to close at 15858.92pts while, the Industrial Index gained 0.93% to end at 52432.53pts. The Blue-chip Index was the top performer amongst the indices as it gained 3.33% to 10746.38pts, buoyed by Ecocash, Simbisa and National Foods. The Mid-Cap Index advanced 1.20% to 26183.01pts. Cable manufacturer Cafca headlined the gainers of the day as it edged up 19.44% to $214.0000, trailed by FMP that surged 15.15% to close at a vwap of $10.2613. Nampak garnered 15.02% to $14.5500 while, bankers ZB rose by 9.09% to settle at $60.0000. Brick maker Willdale capped the top five gainers set on a 8.18% rise to $3.0500. Mining house RioZim led the laggards of the day as it retreated 11.29% to $55.0000 while, sugar manufacturer Hippo valley followed on a 5.07% loss to $299.9905. Proplastics declined 4.55% to $42.0000 as Ariston continued to lose ground after shedding 3.58% to $3.1194. Bankers CBZ went up 3.30% to trade at $90.6897 and capped the top five worst performers of the day. Activity aggregates improved in the session as volumes of shares traded increased by 21.50% to see 9.20m shares exchange hands while, turnover ballooned by 106.58% to $824.29m. Zimplow drove the volume aggregates, claiming 31.17%, trailed by Axia that accounted for 11.97% of the total. Innscor was the most liquid counter in the session as it contributed 30.43% of the turnover, followed by Delta and Econet that had respective contributions of 17.72% and 13.54%. The ETFs, Datvest MCS and Morgan & Co closed in the positive after gaining 1.40% and 0.25% to close at $1.8800 and $14.5122 respectively. On the contrary, the Old Mutual ETF was the only loser amongst the ETFs as it declined 0.03% to $8.5615. Elsewhere, on the VFEX, Padenga rose 0.24% to US$0.2105 while, Bindura was stable at US$0.0500 as 400,371 shares exchanged hands.