Market Intelligence - Equities

During the week of 15 – 19 November 2010, the majority of African stock markets gained alongside the major global stock markets. Global stocks rebounded as higher-than-expected U.S. corporate profits and expectations of an imminent resolution of Ireland's banking crisis outweighed renewed talk of further policy tightening in China. The stock market in Ghana led the winners among African stock markets, recording a substantial increase of 2.9%, followed by the markets in Uganda and Mauritius, which registered significant gains of 2% and 1.6%, respectively. Moderate gains of less than 1% were posted by the markets in Egypt, Morocco, Côte d’Ivoire, and Tunisia. On the other hand, three African stock markets fell, with the Nigerian stock market recording the largest loss of 1.6%, while those of South Africa and Kenya registered moderate losses of 0.9% and 0.3%, respectively.

Equity Focus

Uganda:The All Share Index of the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) rose by 2% over the week, reflecting in part the inertial force of speculative demand for stocks. During the third quarter of this year, the turnover in USE halved from UGX 8.6 billion to UGX3.9 billion, while the All Share Index rose by 8.2%, reflecting the strength of speculative demand amid limited supply of shares due to an expectation of continued increases in equity prices.

South Africa: The All Share Index declined by 0.9% over the week amid concern that the People’s Bank of China’s move to contain inflation will slow down global growth and put downward pressure on commodities and related stocks.

Click here for the Market Intelligence Table