Market slides during the week

The Total Return Index, SEMTRI, closed the session of Monday 13 August 2012 at 5,271.24 points, losing 47.65 points during the week. The All-share index, SEMDEX, closed at 1,728.54 points on Monday. The SEM-7 index, which comprises the seven largest and most liquid stocks, closed at 334.49 points. At market close on Monday, market capitalisation reached Rs 173.76 billion.

Total transactions amounted to Rs 142.7 million during the week. The top 5 traded securities were: The Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd (MCB), New Mauritius Hotels (NMHL), Sun Resorts Ltd (SRL), Alteo Ltd (ALT) and United Docks Ltd (UTDL). They were exchanged for a total value of Rs 47.3 million, Rs 21.1 million, Rs 8.9 million, Rs 6.9 million and Rs 6.8 million, respectively, during this time frame. The shares of MCB, NMHL, SRL, ALT and UTDL closed at Rs 166.00, Rs 60.00, Rs 32.00, Rs 30.60 and Rs 80.50, respectively, on Monday 13 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, 5 moved up during the week, 22 remained stable and 14 went down. The best performing stocks for the week were: Automatic Systems Ltd (+5.19%), Rogers & Co Ltd (+1.61%), Omnicane Ltd (1.38%), Gamma-Civic Ltd (+0.62%) and State Bank of Mauritius Ltd (+0.61%). The worst performers were: Go Life International PCC (-44.44%), New Mauritius Hotels Ltd (-11.76%), Belle Mare Holding Ltd (-5.26%), Air Mauritius Ltd (-3.81%) and Sun Resorts Ltd (-2.14%).

On the Development & Enterprise Market (DEM), at market close on Monday, the two indices, the DEMEX and the DEMTRI, closed at 146.26 points and 170.30 points, respectively. Market capitalization stood at Rs 44.06 billion. A total volume of 1.06 million of shares for a total value of Rs 14.56 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 13 August 2012 are: Margarine Industries Ltd, Associated Commercial, United Bus Service, Morning Light, Union Flacq, Union Sugar Estates, Chemco, Livestock Feed Ltd (O), United Investments and Forward Investment and Development Enterprise Ltd. The total return varies from 26.62% to 55.81%.

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 index gained 0.85 per cent and 1.78 per cent, respectively. In Europe, Germany’s DAX, Britain’s FTSE and France CAC 40 went up 2.63 per cent, 2.85 per cent and 2.87 per cent, respectively, during the week.