Heavy trading underpins a rising market

The market maintained its upward momentum amid heavy trading and saw the SEMTRI and market capitalization surge to new heights. They progressed by 0.39% respectively during the week under review (16-23 December 2013).

The Total Return Index, SEMTRI, registered a new record high of 6,617.05 points on Monday, gaining 25.78 points for the week. Since the beginning of 2013, the SEMTRI has gained 1,252.76 points, achieving a growth of 23.35%. The All-share price index, SEMDEX, closed the trading day of Monday at 2,081.06 points, reaching its highest level for 2013. On a year-to-date basis, the SEMDEX has gained 349 points and grown by 20.15%. The SEM-7 index, which comprises the seven largest and most liquid stocks, closed at 405.30 points on Monday, registering a 20.17% growth since the start of 2013. At market close on Monday, market capitalisation reached its record level of Rs 211.44 billion, gaining 20.70% on a year-to-date basis.

The week was characterised by heavy trading with a total turnover amounting to Rs 396.3 million. The most traded securities during the last five sessions were mainly: Rockcastle Global Real Estate Co. Ltd (ROCK), Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd (MCB), State Bank of Mauritius Ltd (SBM), Promotion and Development Ltd and New Mauritius Hotels Ltd (NMHL). They were exchanged for a total value of Rs 196.1 million, Rs 78.1 million, Rs 44.2 million, Rs 19.4 million and Rs 11.7 million, respectively. The shares of ROCK, MCB, SBM, PAD and NMHL closed at USD 1.30, Rs 210.50, Rs 1.05, Rs 82.00 and Rs 88.00 on Monday 23 December 2013.

An analysis of the evolution of the prices of listed stocks indicates that out of the 45 stocks figuring on the Official List, 17 moved up during the week, 18 remained stable and 10 went down. The best performing stocks for the week were: Go Life International PCC (+33.33%), Bramer Banking Corporation (+9.18%), Air Mauritius Ltd (+3.23%), POLICY (+2.86%) and Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd (+2.18%). The worst performers were: CMPL Ltée (-10%), Sun Resorts Ltd (-6.98%), CIM Financial Services Ltd (-6.98%), New Mauritius Hotels Ltd (-2.22%) and MCFI Ltd (-2.04%).

The following data highlights the ten best performing stocks in terms of total return since the beginning of 2013.

On the Development & Enterprise Market (DEM), the two indices, the DEMEX and the DEMTRI, closed at their all-time high of 173.27 points and 208.14 points, respectively. Market capitalization closed at its highest level of 2013 of Rs 55.64 billion. A total volume of 1.5 million shares for a total value of Rs 16.2 million has been traded during the week. The ten best performing stocks in terms of total returns since the beginning of 2013 are: Union Flacq Ltd, Constance Hotels Services Ltd, Constance La Gaieté Company Ltd, Deep River Investment Ltd (O), Hotelest Ltd, Ciel Investment Ltd, United Bus Service Ltd, ENL Investment Ltd, RHT Holding Ltd and Tropical Paradise Ltd (O). The total return varies from 42.50% to 78.32%.

On the international front, financial markets ended the week on a positive note. For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the NASDAQ Composite gained 2.96% and 2.59%, respectively. In Europe, Germany DAX, Britain’s FTSE and France CAC-40 rose 4.37%, 2.59% and 3.30% during the same time frame.