About $1,5 billion in shareholder value was lost on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) between January last year and January 2016, as the market continues to face challenges in a depressed economy.
VICTORIA MTOMBA
Market capitalisation for the month ended January stood at $2,79 billion this year compared to $4,35 billion in January 2015.
Market capitalisation is calculated by multiplying a company’s shares outstanding by the current market price of one share.
During the month of January, 38 501 218 shares were sold while 19 092 766 were bought by foreign investors.
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The mining index stood at 19,53 points, the lowest since last year.
The industrial index stood at 103,04 points, also the lowest since 2015.
Turnover value for the market in January stood at $61 882 757 while turnover volume stood at 11 345 452.
The industrial index opened the year at 114,35% points compared to 114,45% points on December 31 indicating a 0,09 point loss.
A local analyst said although the performance was on the down side, it was still too early to raise alarm bells, as activity picks in the third month of the year.
Leading brokerage firm MMC Capital said: “Nothing has changed, the performance shows economic weaknesses and also that there is no guidance from the policy makers.”
ZSE CEO, Alban Chirume told NewsDay last month that the performance of the market was mostly likely to be the same as last year, but the figures for January show that the year may be more bearish.
The mining index, which shows the performance of companies in the resource sector, gained 5,26% to 1,60 points compared to 1,52 points on December 31, 2015 due to the gains by in Bindura Nickel Corporation during trade on the first day.