Market ends week down

The local stock market was marked by a fall in market indices during the week (8-14 March 2016). The SEMDEX and the SEMTRI went down -0.57% and 0.49% respectively at the end of the days under review.

The Total Return Index, SEMTRI, closed the session of Monday 14 March 2016 at 6,127.83 points, losing 30.17 points during the week. The All-share index, SEMDEX, closed the same session at 1,809.27 points against 1,819.66 points a week earlier. The SEM-10 Index, which comprises the ten largest and most liquid stocks, closed at 348.03 points. The SEM sustainability index, SEMSI, ended the same day at 99.37 points. The market capitalisation stood at Rs 204.64 billion at market close on Monday.

Total transactions during the week amounted to Rs 216.4 million. The top five traded securities were: MCB Group Ltd (MCBG), SBM Holdings Ltd (SBMH), New Mauritius Hotels Ltd (NMHL), ENL Commercial Ltd and United Basalt Products (UBP). They were exchanged for a total value of Rs 155.6 million, Rs 22.8 million, Rs 9.5 million, Rs 3.9 million and Rs 3 million respectively. The shares of MCBG, SBMH, NMHL, ENL Commercial and UBP closed at Rs 210.50, Rs 0.66, Rs 22.25, Rs 16.00 and Rs 78.00 on Monday 14 March 2016.

An analysis of the evolution of the prices of listed stocks indicates that out of the 57 stocks figuring on the Official List, 8 moved up during the week, 31 remained stable and 18 went down. The best performing stocks for the week were: Promotion and Development Ltd (+1.58%), Lottotech Ltd (+1.56%), New Mauritius Hotels Ltd (P) (+1.38%), Omnicane Ltd (+1.09%) and CIEL Ltd (+0.62%). The worst performers were: ENL Commercial Ltd (-8.83%), Belle Mare Holding Ltd (-4.81%), Swan General Ltd (-3.27%), ENL Land Ltd (P) (-3.10%) and MCFI Ltd (- 3.03%).

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, closed at 198.08 points and 251.96 points respectively. Market capitalisation stood at Rs 45.07 billion. A total volume of 460,333 shares for a total value of Rs 16.8 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, Phoenix Investment Company Ltd, Livestock Feed Ltd (O), Swan Life Ltd, Morning Light Ltd, The Bee Equity Partners Ltd and United Investments Ltd. The total return varies from 21.06% to 36.52%.

On the international front, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the NASDAQ went up 1.21% and 0.67% respectively in one week. In Europe, Germany DAX and France CAC-40 registered a gain of 0.07% and 0.81% respectively whilst London FTSE-100 lost 0.96% during the same time frame.