Local market finishes down

The local stock market was marked by a fall in market indices during the week (9-15 February 2016). The SEMDEX and the SEMTRI went down -0.88% at the end of the days under review.

The Total Return Index, SEMTRI, lost 55.73 points during the week, closing the session of Monday 15 February 2016 at 6,254.66 points. The All-share index, SEMDEX, closed the same session at 1,848.71 points against 1,865.19 points last week. The SEM-10 Index, which comprises the ten largest and most liquid stocks, closed at 355.34 points. The SEM sustainability index, SEMSI, ended the same day at 99.14 points. The market capitalisation stood at Rs 209.10 billion at market close on Monday.

Total transactions amounted to Rs 194.9 million during the week. The top five traded securities were: MCB Group Ltd (MCBG), New Mauritius Hotels Ltd (NMHL), SBM Holdings Ltd (SBMH), Ireland Blyth Ltd (IBL) and LUX* Island Resorts Ltd (Lux). They were exchanged for a total value of Rs 74.4 million, Rs 35.3 million, Rs 18.2 million, Rs 14.8 million and Rs 14.7 million respectively. The shares of MCBG, NMHL, SBMH, IBL and Lux closed at Rs 208.25, Rs 24.90, Rs 0.68, Rs 121.00 and Rs 59.75 on Monday 15 February 2016.

An analysis of the evolution of the prices of listed stocks indicates that out of the 57 stocks figuring on the Official List, 11 moved up during the week, 34 remained stable and 12 went down. The best performing stocks for the week were: NewGold Securities (+11.75%), Automatic Systems Ltd (+10%), Air Mauritius Ltd (+5.17%), United Basalt Products Ltd (+2.58%) and Ireland Blyth Ltd (+2.54%). The worst performers were: Sun Resorts Ltd (-5.61%), Harel Mallac Ltd (-5.56), Phoenix Beverages Ltd (-3.54%), New Mauritius Hotels Ltd (-3.11%) and SBM Holdings Ltd (-2.86%).

The following data highlights the ten best performing stocks in terms of annualised total returns since their listing on the stock exchange.

On the Development & Enterprise Market (DEM), at market close on Monday, the two indices, the DEMEX and the DEMTRI, closed at 199.43 points and 253.51 points respectively. Market capitalisation stood at Rs 45.37 billion. A total volume of 382,486 shares for a total value of Rs 8.5 million has been traded during the week. The ten best performers in terms of annualised return since listing are: Margarine Industries Ltd, Associated Commercial Ltd, United Bus Service Ltd, ABC Motors Ltd, The Bee Equity Partners Ltd, Phoenix Investment Company Ltd, Livestock Feed Ltd (O), Swan Life Ltd, Morning Light Ltd and United Investments Ltd. The total return varies from 21.62% to 36.86%.

On the international front, the financial markets ended the week in negative territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the NASDAQ went down 1.43% and 0.59% respectively in one week. In Europe, Germany DAX, London FTSE-100 and France CAC-40 registered a loss of 3.43%, 2.40% and 4.89% respectively during the same time frame.