The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) has endured a difficult week with the market bearish as investors continue a “wait and see” approach since the introduction of the new currency.
The coming in of the ZiG currency has not been able to cheer up investor sentiment in the ZSE as concerns around its short to medium term stability remain unanswered.
Furthermore, it appears the market is still short of sufficient ZiG currency to bolster meaningful market activity.
Authorities have already emphasized that they will stay the course of its tight monetary supply framework.
Yesterday the ZSE All Share Index, its benchmark indicator was down 0.81 percent to 98.43 points. The index was valued at 100 points at the time of configuration to the ZiG currency.
The ZSE slow down has been mainly driven by losses in blue-chip counters which dragged the Top 10 index down 1.34 percent to close at 96.73 points.
The small caps remained flat at 100 points as they have largely been shunned by investors who have a propensity for betting on blue-chip counters that tend to be resilient in times on uncertainty.
However, the Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) have traded better with the DMCS up 15 percent, OMTT also up 11.19 percent and the MCMS gaining 3.58 percent.
ZSE market capitalization continued to thin, sitting at ZiG 28.6 million yesterday as compared to ZiG 29.7 million last week Wednesday.
There are however positive expectations that the ZSE could improve activity and growth in the coming months once the ZiG currency has “settled well.”
Market experts do not foresee the ZiG currency tumbling at the rate at which the Zimbabwe dollar has been losing value and that could bring the much-needed stability and market confidence for investors to return to the ZSE.
Some market watchers say perhaps confidence in the ZiG currency could improve once the notes and coins come into circulation at the end of this month.
