Bears take toll on stock exchange

for four straight days.
The index lost a marginal 0,62 points on Friday after being weighed down by losses in Colcom, which shed US3c to US42c while Aico, Meikles, Old Mutual and Turnall lost a cent each to trade at US19c, US49c, US160c and US9c respectively.
Gains were in PPC, which added US5c to US310c, Seed Co US2c to US140c and Delta rose US1,01c to US81,01c.
Pioneer was up US0,15c to US0,75c after it posted a 166 percent increase in profits from US$175 000 last year to US$466 000 in the year to December last year buoyed by profits from foreign operations.
The firm’s foreign units, namely Pioneer Transport South Africa, Pioneer Clan Botswana and Mavambo Coaches South Africa contributed 77 percent of revenue in the period to December.
Week on week the main index lost 2,35 points as the market followed a depressed start to the beginning of the month.
“It is common for the market to be depressed during the first days of the month due to low activity. You will notice, however, that the losses were not huge throughout the week.
“During the early part of the (last) week trades on both the sell and buy side were 50-50 between the foreign and local investors.
“The trend changed today (Friday) as foreign investors accounted for 55 percent of buys,” said a market watcher who requested anonymity.
Local investors, however, dominated selling on Friday accounting for 77 percent of turnover on the last trading day. Turnover on the day stood at US$3,9 million from 24 728 295 shares sold.
Market analysts said the market ended on the downside despite activity picking up after a drowsy return from the Workers’ Day holiday break.
The market had opened 0,74 points weaker to close at 163,92 points on Tuesday.
There were no trades on Monday, since it was a public holiday.
Innscor and Radar both retreated US2c on the opening trading day to close at US61c and US40c while Econet slipped a cent to US501c.
Dairibord lost US0,90c to US19c while starafrica shed US0,30c to US1,60c to set the tone for a miserable week.
Trading on the upside were M&R, RTG, Mashonaland, Afre and NicozDiamond.
The marginal losses continued on Wednesday as the main index lost 0,55 points to settle at 163,37 points weighed down by losses in tobacco processor BAT, Innscor, Delta, M&R and Econet.
Gains in Hippo, Cafca, Dairibord, Old Mutual and Fidelity did little to reverse the downward trend that started on the opening day of trading.
Losses in TA, Seed Co, CBZ, Padenga, Afre and Innscor weighed down on the main index, which as a result shed 0,34 points to 163,92 points.
Old Mutual, Aico, TPH, Dairibord and FBC all traded positive, but the gains were not enough to prevent the index retreating southward.
There was no joy for the resources index, which lost 0,36 percent to close the week 0,73 points weaker at 200,07 points.
The index was pulled down by Bindura, which US0,50c to close at US7,50c as Falgold, Hwange and RioZim all traded unchanged.
Week on week the resources index gained 2,79 points compared to the week ending April 29 after gains earlier in the week.
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