Enacy Mapakame, Harare Bureau
A BLOOD bath marked the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) first day of trading following a month long suspension with investors losing a cumulative $10 billion.
Total market value closed yesterday with trade at $218 billion from the $228 billion recorded on June 26, 2020. Stocks had last traded on 26 June 2020, after Government suspended trading activity on the local bourse on allegations of economic sabotage by some players.
Trading, however, resumed yesterday, but financial services giant — Old Mutual, regional cement maker — PPC and SeedCo International remain suspended. The three, which are also listed on other exchanges are alleged to have been used as means of siphoning foreign currency out of the country with investors “abusing” their fungibility.
By close of Monday trades, all indicators were in the negative as stocks across the board succumbed to sell off. The primary indicator, the ZSE All Share Index shed four percent to settle at 1 708 points while the ZSE Top 10 eased five percent to 1 163 points as the market’s heavy cap counters faltered. The ZSE Top 15 reduced by 75 points to close at 1 337 points. At 3 213 points, the Medium Cap was 89 points less. The Small Cap went down four percent to close at 5 313 points.
Weighing down the market were Powerspeed that lost 20 percent to $1,16. Padenga and MedTech lost 19 percent each to settle at $11,05 and 9,5 cents respectively. TSL eased 17 percent to $3,40 while Mashonaland Holdings wrapped the top five shakers with a 16 percent decline to 60 cents
Only Bindura and ZB Financial Holdings traded in the black to close at $3,93 and $11,35 in that order.
At $2,9 million, foreign sales outpaced the $57 909 foreign buys while total turnover amounted to $10,246 million.
Diversified industrial conglomerate- Innscor, Delta and Bindura were the top value drivers accounting for $2,369 million, $1,668 million and $1,367 million respectively. Padenga and Seed Co also made it into the top five by value contribution at $770 185 and $749 050 in that order.