Market finishes up

The local stock market finished up during the week. The SEM-ASI and the SEMTRI-ASI gained 0.45% at the end of the days under review (17 - 24 July 2017).

The SEMTRI ended the session of Monday 24^th July 2017 at 7,695.95 points, gaining 31.57 points in one week. The SEMDEX grew by 0.41% in one week and ended the same session at 2,172.28 points. On a year-to-date basis, the SEMTRI and the SEMDEX have grown by 21.98% and 20.12% respectively. The SEM-10 Index, which comprises the ten largest and most liquid stocks, closed at 422.75 points. The SEM sustainability index, SEMSI, ended the same day at 119.74 points. At market close of Monday, the total market capitalisation of the SEM-ASI constituents stood at Rs 319.16 billion.

Total transactions amounted to Rs 198.3 million during the week. The top five trading securities were: MCB Group Limited (MCBG), SBM Holdings Ltd (SBMH), Mauritius Union Assurance Co. Ltd (MUA), Alteo Limited and Lux Island Resorts Ltd. They were exchanged for a total value of Rs 77.3 million, Rs 19.3 million, Rs 19 million, Rs 9 million and Rs 8.3 million respectively. The shares of MCBG, SBMH, MUA, Alteo and Lux closed at Rs 275.00, Rs 7.78, Rs 58.00, Rs 34.50 and Rs 58.25 on Monday 24^th July 2017.

An analysis of the evolution of the prices of listed stocks indicates that out of the 64 stocks figuring on the Official List, 18 moved up during the week, 37 remained stable and 9 went down. The best performing stocks for the week were: Automatic Systems Ltd (+11.11%), Air Mauritius Ltd (+7.09%), Innodis Ltd (+4.71%), Mara Delta Property Holdings Ltd (+4.20%) and Terra Mauricia Ltd (+3.08%). The worst performers were: BlueLife Limited (-8.55%), CMPL Ltée (-5.44%), CIEL Limited (-2.15%), New Mauritius Hotels Ltd (-1.13%) and POLICY Limited (-0.90%).

On the Development & Enterprise Market (DEM), at market close on Monday, the two indices, the DEMEX and the DEMTRI, closed at 212.90 points and 283.57 points respectively. A total volume of 4.5 million shares for a total value of Rs 102.1 million has been traded during the week. The ten best performers in terms of total return since the start of 2017 are: COVIFRA Ltée, Quality Beverages Ltd, The Bee Equity Partners Ltd, ABC Motors Company Ltd, Medical & Surgical Centre Ltd, EUDCOS Ltd, Les Moulins de la Concorde Ltée (O), Ciel Textile Ltd, Soap & Allied Industries Ltd and Associated Commercial Ltd. The total return varies from 13.18% to 175%.

On the international front, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.27% whilst the NASDAQ went up 1.19% in one week. In Europe, the DAX and the CAC went down 3.10% and 2.25% respectively during the week. The FTSE-100 gained 1.01% during the same period.

The following data highlights the ten best performing stocks in terms of total return since the start of 2017 on the stock exchange.