Market ends week in positive territory

The local stock market ended the week under review in positive territory. The SEM-ASI and the SEMTRI-ASI gained 0.62% and 0.65% respectively at the end of the days under review (17 - 24 April 2017).

The Total Return Index, SEMTRI, closed the session of Monday 24^th April 2017 at 7,018.61 points, gaining 73.59 points in one week. The SEMDEX ended the same session at 2,006.25 points, growing by 1.02% during the same period. Since the start of 2017, the SEMTRI and the SEMDEX have achieved a growth of 11.25% and 10.94% respectively. The SEM-10 Index, which comprises the ten largest and most liquid stocks, closed at 389.44 points. The SEM sustainability index, SEMSI, ended the same day at 105.43 points. The total market capitalisation of the SEM-ASI constituents stood at Rs 367.82 billion at market close on Monday.

Total transactions amounted to Rs 140.1 million during the week. The top five trading securities were: MCB Group Ltd (MCBG), Phoenix Beverages Ltd (PBL), CIEL Limited (CIEL), Alteo Ltd (ALT) and LUX* Island Resorts Ltd (Lux). They were exchanged for a total value of Rs 40.5 million, Rs 18.6 million, Rs 10.2 million, Rs 10 million and Rs 8 million respectively. The shares of MCBG, PBL, CIEL, ALT and Lux closed at Rs 229.00, Rs 434.75, Rs 7.20, Rs 32.75 and Rs 60.00 respectively on Monday 24^th April 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: BlueLife Ltd (+11.16%), New Mauritius Hotels Ltd (+5.63), Terra Mauricia Ltd (+4.92%), Promotion and Development Ltd (+4.39%) and ENL Land Ltd (+4.17%). The worst performers were: Caudan Development Ltd (-6.36%), Air Mauritius Ltd (-6.21%), SBM Holdings Ltd (-3.27%), POLICY Ltd (-1.63%) and IBL Ltd (-1.22%).

On the Development & Enterprise Market (DEM), at market close on Monday, the two indices, the DEMEX and the DEMTRI, closed at 208.95 points and 274.75 points respectively. Market capitalisation stood at Rs 48.62 billion. A total volume of 1.2 million shares for a total value of Rs 23.3 million has been traded during the week. The ten best performers in terms of annualised return since listing are: Margarine Industries Ltd, ABC Banking Corporation, United Bus Service Ltd, Associated Commercial Ltd, ABC Motors Ltd, Swan Life Ltd, Phoenix Investment Company Ltd, Livestock Feed Ltd (O), Les Moulins de la Concorde Ltd and Morning Light Ltd. The total return varies from 19.42% to 32.45%.

On the international front, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the NASDAQ went up 0.46% and 1.82% respectively during the week. In Europe, Germany DAX, France CAC-40 and London FTSE registered a loss of 0.50%, 0.23% and 2.91% respectively during the same time frame.

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