Zimpapers Logo

Business Editor
A total of 12 stocks exchanged hands on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange yesterday after the automated trading system went live following Friday’s false start.

The new trading platform marks the beginning of a new era for quoted equities in Zimbabwe. The move is widely expected to influence a rise in aggregate turnover as well as volumes traded.

Markets elsewhere around the world reacted positively to such developments leading to increased average daily turnover levels by a three-fold factor. The prevailing liquidity challenges in the economy, however, pose an acute challenge in the short run.

Other counters to trade on the ATS included Bindura which was the first to do so with 53 600 shares exchanging hands at a price of 3,5c. Hippo and Seed Co were the only heavy caps to trade while Barclays, FML and Medtech completed the set.

The industrials index closed 0,51 percent weaker at 45,45 dragged by losses in three counters which include Fidelity, Old Mutual and Turnall.

Fidelity, which was the worst performer, eased by 1,5c to close at 7,50c while Turnall shrunk 0,05c to close at 1c. Old Mutual finally took a breather after a month of upward trending, as it shed 0,75c to close at 273,25c. Seed Co topped the risers set as it notched 0,50c to 95,50c while Masimba capped the set with a gain of 0,20c to 1c.

Heavy caps Econet and Delta did not trade, which is unusual in normal trades, as investors scrutinise the efficiency of the new system.

The mining index added 5,86 percent to close at 42,09 on the back of gains in Bindura which gained 0,30. Falgold was, however, 0,30c weaker at 0,50c while Rio Zim maintained its previous close of 14c.

The ATS is one of the deliverables set for chief executive Alban Chirume. The others include demutualisation, listings rules and the setting up of a secondary board.