ZSE remains subdued

Oliver Kazunga Senior Business Reporter
TRADING on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) has remained bearish as a result of the depressed financial results a number of listed firms have released, economic analysts have said.
In separate interviews, economic commentators concurred that the ZSE industrial index has despite the release of financial statements by some listed firms, remained bearish in line with the general economic outlook.

Even the appointment of a new Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya failed to lift the stock market.
“The financial results published by most of the companies so far are pretty very much depressed noting the negative impact of the tight liquidity situation in economy; they say demand is depressed and as a result the ZSE index has been bearish in line with the general economic outlook,” said an economic commentator, Trust Chikohora.

He said economic policies such as the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment were impacting negatively on creating investor confidence.

“The economic policies a country has affects investor confidence and in our case the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment policy is the major that has impacted negatively on attracting investors to transform the economy. If something doesn’t work it has to be reviewed so that the desired transformation is achieved,” he said.

An economist Dr Davison Gomo said the audited financial results pointed to mixed fortunes.
“There is a clear demonstration that some companies are making headway while others are stagnant. However, the financial statements so far released have not transformed the performance of the ZSE. It has been gloomy for the ZSE but all this is not there forever,” he said.

Another economic commentator, Wendy Mpofu said it was critical that the companies deal with corporate scandals although the tight liquidity situation in the economy continued to weigh down performance of the ZSE.

Meanwhile, the ZSE whose market capitalisation is at $4,56 billion was at the moment being dominated by foreign buyers .
Trading on the bourse opened the week with the industrial index gaining 0,37 percent to 176,32 points while the mining index remained unchanged at 29,51 points.