PHILLIMON MHLANGA
Trading fever has gripped the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) with a record single day turnover amounting to ZWL$4.3bn worth of shares that exchanged hands on Tuesday this week with Econet Wireless and Delta Corporation highlighting the turnover explosion , Business Times can report.
This happened to be biggest single- day transaction since Zimbabwe introduced the Zimbabwe dollar in 2019.
Yesterday, the turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, however, yesterday stood at ZWL$1.4bn,which was a marginal decline from the value of shares that changed hands the early in the week,which amounted to ZWL$1.98bn.
The ZSE trade volume also surged to ZWL$1.47bn last week.
The record turner over in the past two weeks meant a significant increase to the ZSE’s market capitalisation to a record ZWL$6.7 trillion yesterday from ZWL$3.482 reported at the end of May.
Apart from the Zimbabwe’s largest brewer, Delta Corporation, which secured the leadership position on the top turnover chart.
The country’s largest mobile telecommunication network operator, Econet Wireless, seed producer,Seed Co and Meikles, also dominated trading activities.
The recent growth in turnover and index comes at a time foreign investors have sold a record ZWL$1.586bn worth of shares at the ZSE in the past few weeks amid mounting concerns over unsettling policies.
The foreign investors also want to reduce their exposure in companies not migrating to foreign currency denominated Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX).
Multiple investment experts told Business Times that another reason for the severe sell off from ZSE has also been largely the failure to repatriate proceeds and dividends to countries of their origins and taking advantage of the VFEX.
The experts said the sell off was the kind that has not been seen before.
They said the foreign investor have been reducing their exposure to companies not migrating to VFEX.
“The market has moved to a level that has not been witnessed for many years, many investors have got the chance to sell off the shares they had invested in many years ago,” an investment manager with a local securities firm, who requested anonymity told Business Times this week.
