| The local stock market ended the week under review in positive territory with the two main indices; the All-share index, SEMDEX, and the total return index, SEMTRI registering important gains. Investors are awaiting a batch of company results, which may impact on the near term movements of market indices.
The SEMDEX closed at 654.78 points on Monday against 649.99 points last Monday, recording a growth of 19.14% on a year-to-date basis. The total return index, SEMTRI, gained 10.71 points during the week, closing at 1,464.23 points against 1,453.52 points a week earlier. On a year-to-date basis, the SEMTRI has achieved a growth of 269.38 points, i.e 22.55%. At market close on Monday, market capitalisation reached Rs 61.70 billion. With the local market showing a total return of 13,41% in dollar terms since the beginning of 2004, foreign investors have maintained their interests in the local market by investing a net amount (purchases-sales) of Rs 322.4 million as at September 27, 2004.
An analysis of the evolution of the prices of listed stocks indicates that out of the 43 stocks listed, 15 have risen during the week, 21 stocks were stable and 7 stocks have gone down. The 5 best performing stocks for the week were: Liberty Investment Trust (+10.26%), Automatic Systems (+7.37%), Mauritius Union Assurance (+4%), Mauritian Eagle Insurance (+3.26%) and New Mauritius Hotels (+3.16%). Source: Business Magazine 29th September 2004 |
