Industrials opens week little changed

Published: 02 June 2014

ZSE's Industrials opened the week little changed with the breadth of the market skewed towards decliners as only 4 counters managed gains against 9 that ended in the negative while Minings faltered on losses in Bindura and RioZim.

The Industrials Index gained a modest 0.02 points or 0.01% to 174.91 with gains in heavyweights Innscor, SeedCo and Econet which closed amongst the 4 counters that traded in the green.

Conglomerate Innscor added 0.99c or 1.41% to 71c while SeedCo advanced 0.20c or 0.28% to 72.20c after reports that the group will this year increase capital expenditure towards research and processing systems as it seeks to gain a footprint on both local and regional markets.

Meanwhile, telecoms giant Econet picked 0.11c or 0.17% to 66.10c. The other riser on the market was bankers ABC gaining 2c or 2.86% to 72c ahead of its AGM tomorrow.

Hippo closed amongst the top 5 fallers, easing 5c or 9.09% to 50c while dual listed Old Mutual dropped a marginal 0.01c to 2482c. Heavyweight retailer OK Zimbabwe closed buyers only at 18c ahead of their analyst briefing on Thursday.

Blue chip Delta remained stable at 117.3c amid reports that the firm has announced plans to upgrade its plant and machinery at a cost of $54 million in a programme expected to run until next March.

The Minings Index eased 1.73 or 4.88% to 33.71 as RioZim traded on the downside, shedding 4c or 21.05% to 15c while Bindura dropped 0.02c or 0.91% to 2.18c.

Daily market turnover significantly dropped to $335 649 on a volume of 5.315 million shares against Friday's $1.774 million on 12.82 million shares.

Fallers on the market were led by TA Holdings, easing 2.50c or 31.25% to 5.50c while Meikles and Pearl Properties dropped 2.94% and 1.60% each to 16.50c and 2.46c respectively. PPC dropped 0.50c to 210c.

Bankers Barclays traded 0.57% weaker at 3.5c following reports that the firm which is set to access about $100 million in offshore lines of credit this month, has cautioned that it might be forced to overlook small businesses and individuals in order to avoid rising defaults.

The Zfn board closed largely in the red with the Datvest All Share Index easing 0.14 points or 0.11% to 121.67 while the FBC ZSE-10 Index ended 0.07 points or 0.05% weaker at 127.43.

The Banking Index was the only sector to manage gains after adding 0.82 points or 1.02% to 81.45 after gains in ABC outweighed losses in Barclays.

- zfn