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| Old Mutual’s gains prop stock market |
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by
Ayam Maeresa, 28 July 2003
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16:01:03
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Stock market counter Malawi All Share Index (Masi) last week rode on the fortunes of a K3 gain in Old Mutual plc (OML) to trot past the final mark for this year’s second quarter.
The Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE) said in a weekly market analysis report the Masi was up at 336.58 points on Friday from 327.59 points the previous week. The Masi closed the quarter at 327.58 points.
MSE said the mileage was achieved as a result of an increase in points in the foreign share index—in which only OML is quoted on the bourse—to 138.25 points from 134.48.
Old Mutual plc, one of the two insurance companies listed on the nine-stock bourse, was selling at K110 per share, up from K107. Insurance group Nico traded the biggest number of shares during the week at 110,000 but the price remained stuck at 40 tambala.
In total the bourse traded 171,592 shares realising K2.65 million. Of the three traded stocks, only Stanbic Bank registered a drop in share price to K6.20 compared to the ruling K6.25 the previous week.
“The domestic share index slightly decreased due to a decrease in share price of Stanbic,” said MSE.
A recent report by MSE said the stock market, which has been depressed because of lower share prices in most counters in the first quarter of the year, soared to over a 100 percent in both share value and volume in the period April to June.
But the bourse’s gains on points remained clouded by low returns, said the analysis report of the market.
Traded shares on the stock exchange in the quarter shot up to 119.5 million against 22 million shares in the first quarter, realising about K399.9 million (US$ 7.46 million) opposed to K192.3 million (US$2.17 million) respectively.
Yields in the money market continued rising with the 91-day Treasury Bill tenor increasing pace to 43.90 percent, while the 182-days was up at 44.21 percent from 43.67 and 44.02 percentages respectively.
But interest on the 273-day tenors fell to 44 percent from 44.50 percent, said MSE.
Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) bills had mixed returns, with the 63-day bill yielding less at 43.67 percent from 43.68 percent at the last auction. The 91-day tenor slightly went up to 44.10 percent from 43.97 percent, the bourse said. |
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