Bulls n Bears Daily Market Commentary : 29 January 2024

Mon Jan 29 18:38:43 CAT 2024

 <http://www.bullszimbabwe.com> Bullszimbabwe.com
<mailto:bulls at bulls.co.zw> Views & Comments
<http://www.bullszimbabwe.com> Bullish Thoughts
<http://www.twitter.com/BullsBears2010> Twitter
<https://www.facebook.com/BullsBearsZimbabwe> Facebook
<http://www.linkedin.com/pub/bulls-n-bears-zimbabwe/57/577/72> LinkedIn
<mailto:%20bulls at bullszimbabwe.com?subject=Unsubscribe> Unsubscribe

Bulls n Bears Daily Market Commentary : 29 January 2024

 <https://www.dulys.co.zw/> 
ZSE commentary

Stocks in lacklustre gains as investors await key MPC resolutions

HARARE - The stock market remained in positive territory at the start of the
week, but investor focus remains on the Monetary Policy Committee
resolutions and whether these would contain any new measures to stabilise
the exchange rate in light of growing inflationary pressures.

The MPC resolutions, due for release by tomorrow, are also expected to
address issues around the forex auction system amid reports that government
has failed to release the requisite funding for the platform this year,
although this is against a backdrop of efforts to redesign it.

At close, the All Share Index was 4.03% higher to 429 924.86. Turnover was
low at $3.3 billion after 2.14 million shares traded. Foreign investors
remained net sellers at $729.86 million against purchases of $307.56
million. Trades amounted to 282 with Delta being the most active and biggest
contributor to value at $1.34 billion. Star Africa saw the most volume at
689 100 shares.

The Top Ten Index rose 3.07% to 193 020.96. BAT Zimbabwe rose 15% to 3 539
945c to now sit on a year to date gain of 170.22%. EcoCash, which will
identify as a banking stock in the near future, also jumped 15% to 44 845c.
FBC put on 13.46% to 244 186.57c and Hippo Valley was 12.82% higher to 440
000c.

Delta added 5.99% to 886 432.77c on market cap of $11.58 trillion.

The Medium Cap Index was the standout performer, gaining 5.44% to 1 506
962.42. Banking stocks NMB and ZB Financial Holdings hit limit up to 129
080c and 136 850c respectively.  Dairibord also advanced 15% to 155 145c in
a low volume trade of 300 shares

Retailers OK Zimbabwe and Meikles saw significant gains. OK Zimbabwe put on
14.99% to 35 950c and a buoyant Meikles rose 13.92% to 594335.58c.

Art Holdings added 10.55% to 7 075c and Ariston added a fractional 0.31% to
4499.69c. The group, which has underperformed the January rally, said
revenue for the first three months to December 2023 (Q1) grew 5% sustained
by increased domestic tea sales volumes and macadamia nuts carried over from
previous year.

RioZim was the worst performer, losing 12.78% to 90 000c, reducing its
January gains to just 12.50%. Tanganda and Zimre saw marginal losses.

VFEX turnover was subdued at $151, 668.56, majorly coming from Innscor at
US$149 869.19. The All Share was down 1.56% to 97.14 weighed down by losses
in Simbisa and Padenga. Simbisa, was down 12.22% to 31.33 US cents and
Padenga shed 2.71% to 16.54 US cents.

Axia led the risers with an 8.43% gain to 7.59 US cents. Innscor put on
2.11% to 44.93 US cents.-finx

Global Currencies & Equity Markets

South Africa

South African rand steady, focus on Fed meeting

(Reuters) -South Africa's rand was steady on Monday amid subdued risk
appetite, as investors turned their focus towards the Federal Reserve's
policy meeting this week for fresh clues on its interest rate trajectory.

At 1510 GMT, the rand traded at 18.8050 against the dollar ZAR=D3, not far
from its previous close of 18.7975.

The dollar =USD was up about 0.16% at 103.72 against a basket of currencies,
ahead of the Fed's two-day policy meeting starting on Tuesday.

Risk appetite was muted on Monday with an escalation of tensions in the
Middle East after three U.S. soldiers were killed in Jordan, said Andre
Cilliers, currency strategist at TreasuryONE.

The local focus this week will be on December money supply, budget and trade
balance figures.

On the stock market, the Top-40 .JTOPI index closed down 1.04%, while the
broader all-share .JALSH was 0.95% lower.

South Africa's benchmark 2030 government bond ZAR2030= was marginally
weaker, with the yield up 0.5 basis point to 9.765%.

Nigeria

Nigeria's central bank steps up FX settlement, naira still under pressure

Nigeria's central bank stepped up its settlement of outstanding forwards
with an additional $500 million payout to clear a dollar demand backlog, a
spokesperson said, but forex shortages continued to drive the naira currency
into a tailspin.

The naira on Friday fell to a record low of 1,421 per dollar, FMDQ Exchange
data showed, to overtake levels seen on the unofficial parallel market,
where the currency trades freely.

Africa's biggest economy has about $7 billion in forex forwards that have
matured, a major concern for investors as foreign currency shortages
continue to weigh down the naira currency, despite assurances by the Central
Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that it would clear the backlog.

The naira's official exchange rate has been drifting towards the parallel
market level as the central bank is yet to clear outstanding amounts owed in
forward deals, worsening a shortage of foreign-currency in the West African
nation.

Earlier this month, the bank paid about $2 billion of the backlog across
sectors such as manufacturing, aviation and petroleum, CBN spokesperson
Hakama Sidi Ali said.

Sidi Ali said the CBN had begun implementing a comprehensive strategy to
improve liquidity in the Nigerian foreign exchange markets in the short,
medium, and long term.

She added that the bank was committed to settling all legitimate foreign
exchange backlog within a short time frame.

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

Global Markets

Canadian Dollar gets buoyed on Thursday's Crude Oil climb

The Canadian Dollar (CAD) found some bidders on Thursday even as the US
Dollar Index (DXY) saw a recovery after US Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
figures bolstered the broader market. 

Canada wrapped up its presence on the economic calendar's data docket this
week after Wednesday's rate statement from the Bank of Canada (BoC).
Canadian Dollar traders will be waiting until Canadian GDP figures are due
next Wednesday, while Canadian Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) figures are
slated for next Thursday.

Daily digest market movers: Canadian Dollar rebounds despite Greenback jump
on GDP beat

US data dominated the American market session on Thursday.

US Q4 GDP grew by 3.3% YoY, beating the forecast of 2.0% compared to the
previous quarter's 4.9%.

US Q4 Core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) held steady at 2.0%.

US Initial Jobless Claims jumped to 214K for the week ended January 19, up
from the forecast of 200K and climbed from the previous week's 189K (revised
slightly up from 187K).

Despite a rebound on Thursday, the Canadian Dollar remains down across the
board for the trading week.

Crude Oil extends recent gains, bolsters Canadian Dollar.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) tested above $76.00 for the first time in
2024.

The Bank of Canada (BoC) confirmed that the top is in for rate hikes on
Wednesday but remains mum on when rate cuts could be coming.

Canadian Dollar price today

The table below shows the percentage change of Canadian Dollar (CAD) against
listed major currencies today. Canadian Dollar was the strongest against the
Swiss Franc.

        USD   EUR   GBP   CAD   AUD   JPY     NZD   CHF

USD           0.37%         0.08%         -0.39%        -0.11%        0.11%
-0.02%        0.50%

EUR  -0.37%                 -0.27%        -0.76%        -0.50%        -0.26%
-0.40%        0.14%

GBP  -0.08%        0.28%                  -0.47%        -0.21%        0.03%
-0.12%        0.42%

CAD  0.39%         0.75%         0.48%                  0.26%         0.49%
0.35%         0.89%

AUD  0.13%         0.48%         0.20%         -0.28%                 0.22%
0.09%         0.61%

JPY    -0.10%        0.26%         -0.02%        -0.50%        -0.23%
-0.13%        0.39%

NZD  0.06%         0.39%         0.11%         -0.37%        -0.09%
0.14%                  0.52%

CHF  -0.51%        -0.14%        -0.42%        -0.90%        -0.62%
-0.39%        -0.53%        

The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each
other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote
currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Euro from
the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the
percentage change displayed in the box will represent EUR (base)/JPY
(quote).

Technical Analysis: Canadian Dollar finds some space against Greenback but
remains down overall

The Canadian Dollar (CAD) is broadly higher on Thursday, finding some room
in the green on the back of rising Crude Oil markets. The CAD is up around
nine-tenths of a percent against the Swiss Franc (CHF), the market's single
worst-performing currency on Thursday. The Loonie gained three-quarters of a
percent against the Euro (EUR) and nearly half of a percent against the
Pound Sterling (GBP) and the Japanese Yen (JPY).

The Canadian Dollar kicked off Thursday's trading session by testing 1.3530
against the US Dollar (USD) before catching a ride and sending the USD/CAD
back into the 1.3500 handle.

The USD/CAD is getting dragged into a technical congestion pattern on the
daily candles as the 50-day and 200-day Simple Moving Averages (SMA)
consolidate near 1.3500.

The pair is still up around 2.5% from December's low of 1.3177, but it will
take significant bidding pressure to force the pair into the high side of
the bearish crossover of the 50-day and 200-day SMAs.

What key factors drive the Canadian Dollar?

The key factors driving the Canadian Dollar (CAD) are the level of interest
rates set by the Bank of Canada (BoC), the price of Oil, Canada's largest
export, the health of its economy, inflation and the Trade Balance, which is
the difference between the value of Canada's exports versus its imports.
Other factors include market sentiment - whether investors are taking on
more risky assets (risk-on) or seeking safe-havens (risk-off) - with risk-on
being CAD-positive. As its largest trading partner, the health of the US
economy is also a key factor influencing the Canadian Dollar. 

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

Commodities Markets

Gold rush for green: Africa poised to seize opportunity for clean technology
leadership

To meet their green agendas, the European Union, United States, and China
are in engaged in the modern-day equivalent of a gold rush.

This time, though, prospectors are not panning for shiny nuggets in Canada,
America, or Australia. Instead, eyes are on the critical minerals of Africa
- cobalt, graphite, lithium, and others - raw materials essential to the
production of clean technology, including electric vehicles (EV).

To say Africa is generously endowed in this regard seems almost like an
understatement.

Africa holds more than half of the world's reserves of cobalt, 46 percent of
its manganese, and 21 percent of its graphite, all used in EV batteries, and
about a quarter of its bauxite, which is required for solar photovoltaic
technologies.

Beyond reserves, mining and production are already in full swing in a number
of countries.

Nearly 70 percent of all cobalt produced globally comes from the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC) and that country is tied with Peru as number two
behind Chile in the mining of copper, a key component in electric wiring.

Lithium, which has applications in everything from EV batteries to the
lubricants that help wind turbines spin, is also being mined in the DRC, as
well as in Zimbabwe and Namibia, while Ghana and Mali have lithium deposits
that are not being exploited yet.

Namibia is also the world's second-largest producer of uranium, which is
used in nuclear energy.

Given the urgency of the energy transition, it is no surprise that the
market for critical minerals and rare earth elements (a group of 17 light
and heavy metals and alloys integral to the performance and efficiency of
motors and turbines; there are 100 rare earth element deposit sites in
Africa) is strong and growing.

For example, the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that as the
world moves away from fossil fuels, manufacturers of clean energy
technologies will require exponentially more critical minerals than they do
today.

Specifically, the IEA says that by 2040 demand for lithium will be more than
40 times what it is now; over the same period, the need for graphite and
cobalt will be 20 to 25 times higher. As far as copper, the expected
expansion of the electric grid over the next 17 years means demand will
likely double.

In short, opportunity abounds for Africa, especially considering the
shortage of critical minerals nearly everywhere else - if we can only
harness it.

This is a particularly timely topic as the 2023 United Nations Climate
Change Conference (Cop28) wrapped up and voices around the globe continue to
weigh in on what Africa should do (or not do) with its oil and gas.

For too long, Africa has allowed raw materials, including oil and natural
gas, to be exported, meaning we have had no hand in the processes that
happen next or the sale of finished goods.

As a result, we have missed out on the job creation, industrialisation, and
economic diversification that downstream development represents, not to
mention the money that comes with it.

It is just an economic fact of life that processed materials command a
premium price compared to raw materials.

To take full advantage of the critical minerals beneath our feet, we must
break free from our "mining only" mindset. The value chain does not have to
stop with extraction.

There is an argument that minerals should be manufactured into products
closer to where they will be used, and that Africa lacks, for example, both
the manufacturing capacity to turn cobalt into EV batteries, and the market
for EV cars. (Young African entrepreneurs have taken aim at this deficit, as
you will see in a moment.)

But with sufficient investment and collaboration, we can build capabilities
and catalyse the market.

The good news is that we are seeing progress in that direction.

In April 2022, the DRC and Zambia signed a co-operation agreement to make EV
batteries in Katanga province, the mineral-rich region where Tenke Fungurume
is located. That was followed in December by the US entering into a
trilateral memorandum of understanding (MOU) with those countries to develop
a complete value chain around EV batteries, "from extraction to the assembly
line".

To move the deal along, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (Uneca) are helping the DRC
and Zambia form special economic zones (SEZ) for the production of battery
precursors, batteries, and EVs.

According to the United Nations, "the Afreximbank and Uneca will play a
central facilitating role, acting as the project's financial and technical
partners respectively.

In addition to Toyota setting up shop in Durban, South Africa, to assemble
hybrid EVs from "semi-knocked down" imported vehicles and Uganda's Kira
Motors converting internal combustion engine-powered buses into EVs, a small
industry of EV motorcycle manufacturers has cropped up in Rwanda, Nigeria,
Uganda, Kenya, and South Africa, potentially accelerating the growth of a
much-needed domestic market and circumventing the need for the expensive,
grid-scale charging infrastructure four-wheeled vehicles require.

These companies are building EV motorcycles from the ground up and subbing
EV motors for conventional ones in existing bikes. As Marit Kitaw, interim
director of the African Minerals Development Centre (AMDC), noted, this is
evidence that "the continent's technical and manufacturing capabilities can
be scaled up with supportive policies, skill-building programmes,
infrastructure development, and a favourable investment climate."

While agreements like those between DRC and Zambia are a start, our nations
must collaborate more closely, especially when it comes to issues like
establishing a common external tariff (CET).

That would serve to avoid a patchwork approach to imports and make it easier
for African countries to do business across borders.

We have to build up our energy infrastructure so we can support processing
and refining.

We must avoid the human-rights violations that have plagued other extractive
industries in Africa, ensuring workplaces are safe; indigenous people are
not at risk; workers' living conditions meet universally accepted standards;
the physical environment is protected; and children are not put to work when
they should be in school.

As the world pivots to a low-carbon future, Africa has a chance to change
where we sit on the critical minerals value chain and, in turn, to change
our destiny. But there is tremendous work to do, and it has to be done
right. With the right partners and support, within our continent and
worldwide, it will be. - bizcommunity.com

*NJ Ayuk is the executive chairman of the African Energy Chamber.

INVESTORS DIARY 2024

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

Counters trading under cautionary

CBZH

GetBucks

EcoCash

Padenga

Econet

RTG

Fidelity

TSL

FMHL

ZBFH

Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

Cellphone:      <tel:%2B263%2077%20344%201674> +263 77 344 1674

Alt. Email:       <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> bulls at bullszimbabwe.com  

Website:         <http://www.bullszimbabwe.com> www.bullszimbabwe.com  

Blog:
<http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bulls.co.zw%2Fblog&sa=D&sntz=1
&usg=AFQjCNFoIy6F9IXAiYnSoPSgWDYsr8Sqtw> www.bullszimbabwe.com/blog

Twitter:         @bullsbears2010

LinkedIn:       Bulls n Bears Zimbabwe

Facebook:
<http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FBullsBearsZimba
bwe&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNGhb_A5rp4biV1dGHbgiAhUxQqBXA>
www.facebook.com/BullsBearsZimbabwe

Skype:         Bulls.Bears 

DISCLAIMER: This report has been prepared by Bulls 'n Bears, a division of
Faith Capital (Pvt) Ltd for general information purposes only and does not
constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or
subscribe for any securities. The information contained in this report has
been compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but no representation or
warranty is made or guarantee given as to its accuracy or completeness. All
opinions expressed and recommendations made are subject to change without
notice. Securities or financial instruments mentioned herein may not be
suitable for all investors. Securities of emerging and mid-size growth
companies typically involve a higher degree of risk and more volatility than
the securities of more established companies. Neither Faith Capital nor any
other member of Bulls 'n Bears nor any other person, accepts any liability
whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this report or its
contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith. Recipients of this
report shall be solely responsible for making their own independent
investigation into the business, financial condition and future prospects of
any companies referred to in this report. Other  Indices quoted herein are
for guideline purposes only and sourced from third parties.

(c) 2024 Web: <http://www.bullszimbabwe.com>  www.bullszimbabwe.com Email:
<mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> bulls at bullszimbabwe.com Tel: +263 4 2927658 Cell:
+263 77 344 1674

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20240129/caba8068/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 34378 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20240129/caba8068/attachment-0001.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 89604 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20240129/caba8068/attachment-0003.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image003.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 26321 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20240129/caba8068/attachment-0004.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image004.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 37760 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20240129/caba8068/attachment-0005.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: oledata.mso
Type: application/octet-stream
Size: 130919 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20240129/caba8068/attachment-0001.obj>