malvernmugadzikwa
Tapiwa Mangwiro
The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange opened the week in the red as a liquidity crunch amid high-interest rates continued to weigh on investors’ sentiment.
The mainstream ZSE All-Share Index was down 2,97 percent to close at 14,036.58 points. The market capitalization followed the same direction after it lost $54,78 billion to close at $1,m69 trillion.
However, market turnover increased by 40,41 percent to $330,46 million. CFI was the most actively traded equity, with 446,300 shares valued at $159,617,800. Delta came in second with 312,400 shares worth $62,789,090.
The market’s breadth closed negative, with 22 losers versus four gainers.
Among the heavyweights, Econet eased 6,70 percent to close at $75,00 while Hippo shed 5,82 percent to $195,00. Delta was 5,21 percent lower to $200.98. This saw the Top 10 Index fall by 3.99 percent to 7,992.06 points.
None of the heavyweight stocks appeared on the gainers’ table, led by FMP, which rose 14,97 percent to end at $10,14. Zimplow was 2,72 percent higher at $18,90. Horticulture exporter Ariston gained 0,16 percent to $3,95.
On the other hand, CFI led the losers’ chart by 13,03 percent to close at $357,64. Tanganda lost 5.56 percent to $85.00. The Medium Cap Index lost 0.95 percent to 33,210.03 points.
Edgars, a small counter, fell 0.25 percent to $7.51.The Small Cap Index was off 0.47 percent to 516,224.73 points.
On the VFEX, Padenga eased 10.72 percent to close at US$0.2405. SeedCo International was slightly up 0.03 percent to close at US$0.3200.
The Datvest ETF gained 1.37 percent to $1.6119, while the OML ETF added 0.96 percent to $5.2500. On the flip side, the Morgan & Co Multi Sector shed 1.37 percent to $20.6877.
Commodities
Oil prices fell , dragged down by a firmer dollar, while surging coronavirus cases in China dashed hopes of a swift reopening of the economy for the world’s biggest crude importer.
Brent crude futures were down US$1.01, or 1.1 percent, at US$94.98 a barrel after gaining 1.1 percent on Friday. WTI crude fell by US$1.11, or 1.3 percent, to US$87.85 after advancing by 2.9 percent on Friday.
Gold prices retreated from a three-month peak hit in the previous session, as the dollar and US bond yields edged up after a top US central banker warned that the Federal Reserve was not softening its fight against inflation.
On Friday, spot gold fell 0.5 percent to $1,761.86 per ounce after reaching its highest level since August 18. Gold futures in the United States fell 0.3 percent to $1,764.00.
Elsewhere, silver fell 0.8 percent to US$21.51 per ounce. Platinum eased 0.5 percent to US$1 028.38 and palladium dipped 0.9 percent to US$2 021.91 – Harare.
Bongani Ndlovu