Market Comment - 31.03.2023

ZSE wraps up the first quarter on a positive note... ZSE finished the month of March in gains buoyed by heavy capitalised stocks. The mainstream All Share Index inched up 1.60% to 38568.48pts while, the ZSE Top Ten Index edged up 2.39% to 23081.98pts. Contrastingly, the Agriculture Index and the Mid Cap Index trimmed 0.63% and 0.55% apiece. Apparel retailer Edgars headlined the gainers of the day on a 13.04% surge to $26.0000. Trailing was telecoms giant Econet that jumped 8.21% to close at a vwap of $267.4191 reversing prior session’s losses. Brick makers Willdale rebounded 7.08% to $3.9086 in wake of its half year results presentation in which revenue advanced 348%. Banking group CBZ extended 4.91% to settle at its YTD high of $191.0000. Delta went up 1.72% to land at $830.5517 as it closed with a spread of $825.5000-$830.4500. Seed manufacturer SeedCo Limited led the decliners on a 5.48% drop to $217.3982. First Capital followed on a 5.47% retreat to $31.9582 while, African Sun slipped 1.11% to $82.0702. Property concern FMP shed 0.47% to $16.3235 as Star Africa let go 0.45% to $1.5184. Activity aggregates enhanced in month-ending session as volumes recovered 20.85% to 2.78m shares while, value outturn grew 99.79% to $835.09m. Volume drivers of the day were African Sun, Delta and SeedCo Limited that claimed a combined 80.44%. Value outturn was anchored by Delta and African that accounted for 67.45% and 11.91% apiece. Three counters were active on the VFEX as a paltry 621 shares traded. Axia slid 4.35% to USD$0.1100, SeedCo International eased 0.34% to $0.2606 and Nedbank Depository Receipts were stable at USD$10.9000. Morgan and Co MCS tripped 4.22% to $29.6425 as the Old Mutual ETF fell 0.07% to $10.0000. MIZ was the sole riser as it added 4.42% to $2.0048 while, Cass Saddle and Datvest ETFs were unchanged at $2.1000 and $1.8600 respectively. The Tigere REIT put on 1.14% to trade at $50.6200.