Market Intelligence - Equities

During the week of 1 – 5 November 2010, the majority of African stock markets advanced alongside rallies in global stock markets, driven by the U.S. Federal Reserve announcement of a $600 billion bond-purchase plan and a report of stronger-than-expected U.S. job gains in October. In Africa, the stock markets of Côte d’Ivoire and South Africa led the rally, recording significant gains of 3.7% and 3.4%, respectively, followed by the markets of Egypt, which registered a moderate increase of 1%. Marginal gains of less than 1% were noted for the stock markets of Tunisia, Ghana, Morocco, and Mauritius. In contrast, the markets in Nigeria, Kenya, and Uganda recorded minor losses of less than 1% over the week.

Equity Focus

Tunisia: The Tunis Stock Exchange’s TUNINDEX registered a strong gain of 3.2% on Tuesday, but fell back later in the week, as sentiment was weighed down by the potential impact of taxation on short-term capital gains. The index finished by recording a gain of 0.9% over the first week of November.

Côte d’Ivoire: The BRVM Composite index rose by 3.7% over the week. The index continued to rise each day with the largest increase of 1.7% being recorded on Thursday, a day after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced its additional quantitative easing policy.

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