adminOn the last day of trade before the start of the holidays last Thursday, shares traded on the ZSE jumped almost 100 percent to 13,8 million, resulting in the industrial index rising by 0,6 percent to 183,9 points.
Trust surged 14,29 percent to 0,8 cents. Lafarge jumped 12,9 percent to US90 cents, with ABC gaining 14,3 percent to US50 cents, Cafca was up by 11,11 percent to US50 cents, while Afre put on 10,84 percent to 9,2 cents.
On the strength of the gains in the five counters, the ZSE’s market capitalisation was up 0,6 percent to settle at US$5,3 billion.
Losers were anchored by Dairibord, which went down 8,75 percent to US25 cents, Fidelity slipped 3,45 percent to US13 cents, FBC dropped 1,3 percent to US8 cents and Pearl eased 0,8 percent to 2,5 cents.
The leading stocks in terms of value of shares traded on the last trading session ahead of Good Friday were Econet with 701 630, Delta 480 790, OK Zimbabwe 260 190, BAT 103 039 and Afre 93 233.
On a year-to-date basis, Trust has led the value gainers after putting on 300 percent while Willdale added 200 percent, BAT 100 percent, Bindura 86,7 percent and African Sun appreciated 77,8 percent.
The mining index seemed to recover from the hangover of mixed trading after losing ground in early week gains, when it added 3,8 percent on Thursday to close the last trading session at 66,2 points.
The ZSE has continued to be dominated by foreign trading due to tight liquidity that has rocked the economy since dollarisation in 2009. Foreign investors have dominated both the sales and purchases.
The last two weeks have seen a flurry of financial results released by listed companies, yet despite the firms reporting modest profitability, this has not really excited investors to sustain gains by indices.
Earlier stocks had opened the week with only two counters trading in the positive while 14 shares traded lower with the rest unchanged, as the industrial index slumped into the red.
On the day, most heavyweights traded lower, as the mainstream index dropped 1 percent to 185,93 points while the mining index fell 3,6 percent to 64,79 points, closing below the January 2 level of 65,12 points for the first time this year.
Significant volumes in Delta Corporation, the largest company in terms of value, and Econet Wireless helped the total market daily turnover to close above the psychological US$1 million level at US$1,28 million on a volume of nearly three million shares.
Online Reporter