African Stock Market October 2015 Performance: South African equity best performer for local and foreign investors in October, BRVM YTD leader …

Lagos, Nigeria Capital Markets in Africa — African stock market performance measured by country equity benchmark index returns ended in negative for the month of October, with six gainers and twelve losers on the local currency basis. Still on local basis return, the October’s average return of -0.9 percent was recorded across eighteen African stock indices and October monthly returns range from  -6.6 percent recorded by the Kenyan equity markets (measured by NSE All Share Index) to +7.4 percent registered by the South African Johannesburg All-Share index.

On the downward trends, Nigerian equity markets (measured by NSE All Share Index) sagged by 6.5 percent and Tanzanian Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange faltered by 5.4 percent to emerge as second and third worst October returns respectively. Also, Uganda Securities Exchange All-Share Index went down by 5.3 percent to end at 1,822.20 points, Malawi Stock Exchange All Share ended October at 15,332.70 points after dropping 3.1 percent and Tunisian stock market (measured by Tunis All Share) dipped by 3.1 percent to close at  5,113.30.  

In the positive territory, Namibian equity markets  (measured by Namibia Overall Index) grew by 5.5 percent and Egyptian EGX 30 Index jumped by 2.4 percent (to close at 7,507.89 points) as second and third best October returns respectively. Also, Cote d’Ivoire equity market (measured by BRVM Composite All Share)  and Swaziland equity market (measured by SSE All Share) gained 1.9 percent and 1.7 percent respectively.

Looking at the year-to-date performance (YTD in the table below), the market strength ended negative with 6 positive returns and 12 negative returns.  The returns across eighteen Africa equity indices ranges from -19.6 percent to 15.7 percent recorded by Zimbabwe equity (measured by ZSE Industrial Index) and Cote d’Ivoire equity market (measured by BRVM Composite All Share) respectively.

From the foreign investor viewpoint, African equity shed off an average of -1.2 percent in October and 17.7 percent on a year-to-year basis. South African Johannesburg All-Share index and Cote d’Ivoire equity market (measured by BRVM Composite All Share) topped the positive returns’ league table after gaining 7.5 percent (for October) and 6.8percent (for year-to-date) respectively. On the other hand, Nigerian stock market occupied the worst performing stock markets after dropping 6.5 percent (in October, Nigerian naira depreciated by 0.01 percent against US dollar in October) and Zambian equity market slipped by 52.3 percent (year-to-date, about 96.9 percent depreciation in Zambian kwacha against US Dollar in 2015). The African equity benchmark indices, FTSE ASEA Pan Africa Index lost 2.3 percent in October (-19.4 percent on year-to-date) and the S&P All Africa Index gained 9.3 percent in October (plunged by 9.8 percent on year-to-date).

Note:

• The S&P All Africa index is a comprehensive benchmark for the African market, covering companies listed in 13 countries: Botswana, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia, Zambia and Zimbabwe plus companies listed in developed markets that derive the majority of their revenue from the African continent.
• The FTSE ASEA Pan Africa Index Series represents the performance of eligible securities listed on ASEA (African Securities Exchanges Association) member exchanges. It is a free float market capitalisation weighted index series constructed from securities domiciled in the almost eighteen countries.
• BRVM Bourse is the regional stock exchange for eight West Africa countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo.