ZSE slides to lowest levels since April 2009

The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) fell to its lowest level in seven years on Tuesday, in a further show of weakening investor sentiment.

The main industrial index lost 0.12 percent to 95.08 points, its lowest point since April 2009.

A gauge of investor sentiment, the ZSE has been drifting lower in recent months as foreign investors, who had become the mainstay of the exchange, continue to exit the market.

Gains in CBZ and Old Mutual failed to offset the impact of the fall in Delta stock, which lost 1.79 percent to close at 52 cents.

Turnover for the day was $1.3 million, with Delta accounting for $1.17 million of that trade. The $1.17 million was in sales by foreign investors, according to ZSE data.

From being ranked the top stock market in January 2013, the ZSE was named Africa’s worst exchange early in 2015 by the African Development Bank.

With very little local investment being seen as a cash crunch keeps local money off the exchange, foreign investors dominate trade, accounting for up to 80 percent of transactions. With those foreign investor selling off their investments, the market has been sent into decline.

Trade has thinned to a trickle, with only 10 companies making up for close to 80 percent of all transactions by the end of last year. On Tuesday, only four counters traded.

ZSE data shows foreign investors have so far in June sold $6.8 million dollars, while buying only $5 million worth of stock.-The Source

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