The stock market rallied strongly during the week under review attributable to investors’ growing interests for stocks in an environment characterised by the good performance of some bellwether stocks. Many listed stocks have registered double-digit gains since the beginning of 2004 in terms of total return. The SEMDEX broke its all-time high of 664.78 points on Friday 8th October and closed at a new record of 668.09 points on Monday 11th October 2004 The Total Return Index, SEMTRI, pursued its record-breaking spree by closing at an all-time high of 1,498.54 points.

An analysis of the evolution of the prices of listed stocks indicate that out of the 43 stocks figuring on the Official List, 14 moved up during the week, 16 remained stable and 13 went down. The 5 best performing stocks for the week were: Promotion & Development (+14.8%), Mauritius Commercial Bank (+5.11%), Shell (3.89%), Mauritian Eagle Insurance (+3.09%) and Gamma-Civic (+2.63%).

Source: Business Magazine, 20th October 2004