Local market witnesses heavy trading for the week

The local stock market was characterized by heavy trading during the week under review (21-27 August 2012). Shares worth Rs 318 million were exchanged in a market environment which saw the market indices lose ground.

The Total Return Index, SEMTRI, closed the session of Monday 27 August 2012 at 5,162.70 points, losing 1.5% during the week. The All-share index, SEMDEX, closed at 1,692.95 points on Monday. The SEM-7 index, which comprises the seven largest and most liquid stocks, closed at 329.07 points. At market close on Monday, market capitalisation reached Rs 170.18 billion.

Shares of Rogers, The Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd (MCB), Rockcastle Global Real Estate Co. Ltd (ROCK), State Bank of Mauritius Ltd (SBM) and New Mauritius Hotels Ltd (NMHL) were exchanged for a total value of Rs 161.5 million, Rs 57.1 million, Rs 28 million, Rs 10.8 million and Rs 9.3 million respectively during this time frame. The shares of Rogers, MCB, ROCK, SBM, and NMHL closed at Rs 308, Rs 162, USD 1.05, Rs 82 and Rs 57, respectively, on Monday 27 August 2012.

An analysis of the evolution of the prices of listed stocks indicates that out of the 41 stocks figuring on the Official List, 4 moved up during the week, 18 remained stable and 19 went down. The best performing stocks for the week were: Rockcastle Global Real Estate Co. Ltd (+5%), Innodis Ltd (+1.69%), ENL Commercial Ltd (+1.46%) and Ireland Blyth Ltd (+1.30%). The worst performers were: Bramer Banking Corporation Ltd (-13.33%), Lux Island Resorts Ltd (-5.41%), Plastic Industry (Mtius) Ltd (-4.70%), National Investment Trust Ltd (-4.26%) and Sun Resorts Ltd (-4.09%).

On the Development & Enterprise Market (DEM), at market close on Monday, the two indices, the DEMEX and the DEMTRI, closed at 145.03 points and 168.88 points, respectively. Market capitalization stood at Rs 43.69 billion. A total volume of 745,384 shares for a total value of Rs 15.83 million has been traded during the week. The ten best performers in terms of annualised total returns since their listing on the stock exchange as at Monday 27 August 2012 are: Margarine Industries Ltd, Associated Commercial, United Bus Service, Morning Light, Union Flacq Ltd, Union Sugar Estates, Chemco, Livestock Feed Ltd (O), FIDES Ltd and United Investments Ltd. The total return varies from 25.85% to 55.37%.

On the international front, financial markets ended the week on a negative note. For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the NASDAQ composite index lost 0.88 per cent and 0.22 per cent, respectively. In Europe, Germany’s DAX, Britain’s FTSE and France CAC 40 went down 0.99 per cent, 1.30 per cent and 1.58 per cent, respectively, during the week.