Market ends week down

The local stock market was marked by a fall in market indices during the week (18 - 25 April 2016). The SEMDEX and the SEMTRI went down -0.81% at the end of the days under review.

The Total Return Index, SEMTRI, closed the session of Monday 25 April 2016 at 5,980.95 points, losing 49.03 points during the week. The All-share index, SEMDEX, ended the same session at 1,763.60 points against 1,778.05 points. The SEM-10 Index, which comprises the ten largest and most liquid stocks, finished at 337.68 points. The SEM sustainability index, SEMSI, ended the same day at 98.02 points. The market capitalisation stood at Rs 199.47 billion at market close on Monday.

Total transactions during the week amounted to Rs 135.6 million. The top five traded securities were: MCB Group Ltd (MCBG), Terra Mauricia Ltd (TERRA), SBM Holdings Ltd (SBMH), New Mauritius Hotels Ltd (NMHL) and MCB Group Limited – Notes (MCBG - NOTES). They were exchanged for a total value of Rs 41.9 million, Rs 26.5 million, Rs 12.9 million, Rs 12 million and Rs 10.4 million respectively. The shares of MCBG, TERRA, SBMH, NMHL and MCBG - NOTES closed at Rs 208.00, Rs 30.25, Re 0.63, Rs 20.50 and Rs 1,028.37 on Monday 25 April 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, 31 remained stable and 19 went down. The best performing stocks for the week were: The Mauritius Development Investment Trust Ltd (+4.06%), Mauritius Oil Refineries Ltd (+3.17%), Vivo Energy Mauritius Ltd (+1.69%), Lottotech Ltd (+1.43%) and United Basalt Products Ltd (+1.25%). The worst performers were: P. O. L. I. C. Y Ltd (-5.26%), Swan General Ltd (-4.89%), Terra Mauricia Ltd (- 4.27%) SBM Holdings Ltd (-3.08%) and Mauritius Chemical & Fertilizer Industry Ltd (-2.82%).

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 198.00 points and 252.42 points respectively. Market capitalisation stood at Rs 45.11 billion. A total volume of 1 million shares for a total value of Rs 12.4 million has been traded during the week. The ten best performers in terms of annualised total return since listing are: Margarine Industries Ltd, United Bus Service Ltd, Associated Commercial Ltd, ABC Motors Ltd, Swan Life Ltd, Phoenix Investment Co Ltd, Livestock Feed Ltd (O), Morning Light Ltd, The Bee Equity Partners Ltd and Les Moulins de La Concorde Ltée (Ordinary). The total return varies from 20.44% to 36.02%.

On the international front, financial markets closed on a mixed note, the Dow Jones Industrial Average went up 0.59% during the week whilst the NASDAQ went down 0.65%. In Europe, Germany DAX and France CAC-40 registered a gain of 3.20% and 1.66% respectively, whilst the FTSE-100 lost 0.53% in one week.