adminGolden Sibanda Senior Business Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Stock Exchange has not been spared the liquidity crunch pervading the entire economy after the value of trades plunged 40 percent in the year to date.
Statistics from the ZSE show that the value of trades totalled $311 million over the period to September 22 last year, but has declined to $187 million in the same period this year.
Trades on the local bourse totalled $400 million for the entire trading period last year.
Foreigners have continued to dominate trades on ZSE due to the tight liquidity in the economy.
Foreign buyers bought $104,4 million worth of shares on the local bourse while foreign sellers sold marginally short of $100 million worth of shares in the nine month period.
The decline in ZSE trades value on the equities market in 2015 is also reflected in the value of trades in major stocks on the bourse with brewer, Delta, peeling off 31 percent to $55 million.
Telecoms giant Econet retreated 29 percent to $47,5 million, conglomerate Innscor shed off 17 percent to $15,3 million as trades in Seed Co plunged 84 percent to $8,6 million.
Other steep declines in the value
of trades in major stocks were registered in BAT down 47 percent to $4,2 million, CBZ plunged 77 percent to $3,8 million, Fidelity and FBC crashed 80 percent to $1 million and $884 000, respectively.
The ZSE has relied on the deep pockets of foreign traders to drive activity on the stock market due to challenges facing the domestic economy and exclusive use of foreign currency, after Zimbabwe scrapped its unit due to inflation.
Inflows from shares admitted to the ZSE have also been affected by poor financial performance by most firms, but analysts contend the tight liquidity has also made stocks attractive and sitting ducks for long term investors.
Online Reporter