The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) total turnover for the third quarter of 2023 jumped 418 percent to $171 billion compared to $33 billion recorded during the same period in the prior year, as excess liquidity found its way to the equities market.
However, quarter on quarter, growth was 27 percent as the Government implemented measures to tighten liquidity and tame inflation.
Figures from the exchange show that total market capitalisation lost 29 percent during the third quarter period compared to the previous quarter, to close at $9,87 trillion in depressed activity.
But this represents a 443 percent increase from the same comparative period last year, although, in real US dollar terms, the market is still below the US$4 billion mark. Delta, Econet, FBCH, and CBZ accounted for 30,36 percent, 13,10 percent, 5,4 percent and 4,2 percent respectively to total market value.
During the period under review, ZSE All Share Index lost 26 percent from the previous quarter to close at 126,642.42 points. Foreign investor participation was depressed and accounted for 11 percent of Q3 2023 trades.
The blue chip index, the ZSE Top 10 Index retreated by 39 percent to close the quarter at 56,560.21 points in Q3 2023. The ZSE ICT Index recorded the highest loss for Q3 2023, registering a 41 percent drop to close at 78,092.73 points.
During the period, FML was the top traded company accounting for $52,7 billion followed by Delta at $14,8 billion while Econet, Meikles and OK completed the top five top traders.
On the exchange-traded funds (ETFs) the ZSE ETF Index which measures the performance of ZSE-listed ETFs was up by 11 percent during the quarter under review to close at 1,596.31 points.
The total value traded on the ETF board was $84,8 million and the total number of ETF units that exchanged hands in the third quarter period of 2023 7,5 million. Total market capitalisation for the for ETFs was $39 billion at the end of the quarter under review.
Since its launch, the ZSE direct has continued to play an integral part in increasing retail participation on the bourse. The online and mobile trading platform was specifically designed with the retail investor in mind to make the process of accessing the stock market easier even for first-time investors on the ZSE.
During the period under review, the platform had 17 564 clients, representing a growth of 22,88 percent compared to the previous quarter, which had 14,294 clients. Of these figures, active clients were 9 824, which was a marginal growth of 3,44 percent over the previous quarter.
