Market finishes the week down

The local stock market was marked by a fall in market indices during the week (2 - 9 May 2016). The SEMDEX and the SEMTRI went down -0.37% at the end of the days under review.

The Total Return Index, SEMTRI, ended the session of Monday 9 May 2016 at 6,030.04 points, registering a fall of 22.48 points in one week. The All-share index, SEMDEX, closed the same session at 1,778.07 points. The SEM-10 Index, which comprises the ten largest and most liquid stocks, finished at 342.04 points. The SEM sustainability index, SEMSI, completed the same day at 99.23 points. The market capitalisation stood at Rs 201.11 billion at market close on Monday.

Total transactions during the week amounted to Rs 146.7 million. The top five traded securities were: MCB Group Ltd (MCBG), SBM Holdings Ltd (SBMH), LUX* Island Resorts Ltd (LUX*), Ireland Blyth Ltd (IBL) and Rockcastle Global Real Estate Company Ltd (ROCK). They were exchanged for a total value of Rs 31.4 million, Rs 17.3 million, Rs 16.2 million, Rs 15.5 million and Rs 11.3 million respectively. The shares of MCBG, SBMH, LUX*, IBL and ROCK closed at Rs 211, Rs 0.65, Rs 59.50, Rs 118.75 and USD 2.37 on Monday 9 May 2016.

An analysis of the evolution of the prices of listed stocks indicates that out of the 59 stocks figuring on the Official List, 9 moved up during the week, 30 remained stable and 20 went down. The best performing stocks for the week were: Lottotech Ltd (+5.11%), Rockcastle Real Estate Co. Ltd (+2.60%), Sun Limited (+2.19%), SBM Holdings Ltd (+1.56%) and United Basalt Products Ltd (+1.22%). The worst performers were: Swan General Ltd (-6.83%), Air Mauritius Ltd (-4.41%), Automatic Systems Ltd (-4.08%), United Docks Ltd (-3.36%) and Alteo Ltd (- 2.74%).

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, finished at 197.35 points and 251.60 points respectively. Market capitalisation stood at Rs 45.27 billion. A total volume of 1.1 million shares for a total value of Rs 27.7 million has been traded during the week. The ten best performers in terms of annualised return since listing are: Margarine Industries Ltd, United Bus Service Ltd, Associated Commercial Ltd, ABC Motors Ltd, Swan Life Ltd, Phoenix Investment Company Ltd, Livestock Feed Ltd (O), Morning Light Ltd, The Bee Equity Partners Ltd and Les Moulins de la Concorde Ltd. The total return varies from 20.35% to 35.85%.

On the international front, the financial markets ended the week on a negative note. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the NASDAQ went down 0.19% and 0.82% respectively in one week. In Europe, France CAC-40, Germany DAX and London FTSE-100 lost 2.88%, 1.68% and 1.86% during the same time frame.