ZSE halts trading as rally continues

BUSINESS REPORTER

The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) instituted a trading halt in the past two days after the All Share index breached the 10% threshold on the upside.

The bull run saw the ZSE gaining ZWL$2.31 trillion in the past seven days.

The ZSE market cap stood at ZWL$11.25 trillion yesterday from ZWL$8.94 trillion at the beginning of June.

“…The ZSE hereby notifies the market that it has instituted a trading halt at 1210hours on June 7,2023 on the ZSE markets after All Share index reached the 10% threshold on the upside,” ZSE’s acting head of markets, Kudakwashe Mundowozi said yesterday.

On Tuesday, there was also a trading halt after the 10% threshold was breached as well.

The ZSE All Share index added 13,540.76 points or 11.05% to close at 136,075.06 points.

Leading the movers was the country’s biggest cigarette maker, British American Tobacco Zimbabwe, which traded ZWL$932.35 up to close at ZWL$7148.10 while Zimbabwe’s biggest brewer, Delta Corporation Limited added ZWL$410.59 to ZWL$3,147.95.

Hippo Valley Limited rose by ZWL$276.00 to close at ZWL$2 116.00. Seed producer, Seed Co Limited went up by ZWL$221.16 to ZWL$1695.75 whilst Meikles Limited traded ZWL$202.89 stronger at ZWL$1 555.55.

Shakers included hospitality group Rainbow Tourism Group, which shed ZWL$2.80 to close at ZWL$68.00.  Media group, Zimbabwe Newspapers Limited lost ZWL$1.50 to close at ZWL$8.50.

Analysts said high inflation was pushing equity prices upwards as investors want to hedge against loss of value.

Zimbabwe’s annual inflation rate rose to 86.5% in May 2023, up from 75.2% in April.

Several companies have de-listed from ZSE and migrated to the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX).

There are several incentives at the VFEX including tax exemptions on capital gains and the ability to repatriate funds from Zimbabwe.

There is also a long list of more companies seeking to list on VFEX.

Despite the elevated level of uncertainty for investors who have parked their cash at the ZSE, analysts still expect a further uptick this year.