Industrials extends losses

Published: 16 January 2014

Heavily capitalised counters Delta and Econet traded weaker on Wednesday to drag Industrials lower for the second consecutive session while volumes slowed although the daily market turnover ended above the psychological $1 million level.

The Industrials Index eased 0.84 points or 0.41% to 203.29 as heavyweights Econet and Delta closed amongst the top 5 losers on the market

Blue chip Delta closed 0.71% weaker at 140c with its subsidiary Afdis dropping 1c or 3.23% to 30c after announcing the results of the renounceable rights offer where 10.48 million shares were subscribed for out of the 15.45 million shares offered representing a 67.83 subscription. Meanwhile, Econet dropped 1c or 1.59% to 62c.

Dual listed Old Mutual gained a marginal 0.04c or 0.02% to 242.14c. OK Zimbabwe traded unchanged at 20c while Innscor closed buyers and sellers only at 80c and 80.5c respectively.

The Minings Index also eased a significant 3.67 or 8.58% to 39.11 after Hwange closed as the top faller, shedding 3c or 33.33% to 6c. RloZIm remained stable at 31c.

There was a significant drop in the daily market turnover to $1.496 million on a volume of 3.790 million shares from yesterday's $2,484 million on a volume of 8.015 million shares.

Only 4 counters traded in the green, led by FML which added 0.90c or 9.89% to 10c while clothing retailer Truworths, gained 0.20c or 5% to 4.20c. Cement manufacturer PPC advanced 5c or 2.08% to 245c.

Other counters to trade on the downside are TSL and FBC which eased 2.56% and 0.39% each to 38c and 12.7c respectively.

The Zfn board was largely in the red with the Datvest All Share Index easing 0.80 points or 0.59% to 136.46 while the FBC ZSE-10 Index dropped 0.93 points or 0.64% to end at 143.95.

The Mining Index waded back into the negative territory after losing 1.56 points or 9.10% to 15.58 dragged by Hwange's 33.33% loss.

The Conglomerates and the Manufacturing sectors eased 0.55% each to end at 70.76 and 259.16 respectively.

Meanwhile First Mutual's 9.89% rise helped the Insurance Index to gain a significant 5.60 points or 5.17% to close at 113.98.

Other sectors to close in the positive side were the Dual Listed which added 0.86 points or 0.46% to 188.53 and the Truworths Retail Index which rose 0.27% to 275.73 helped by a 5% gain.

- zfn