Africa-Press – Malawi. The Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE) showed mixed performance in terms of return and activity on the market in the first week of trading in 2023. For example, a weekly summary for market operations published by the MSE indicates that the market recorded a positive return on index of 0.67 percent compared to -0.08 percent that was registered during the same period last year.
Activity on the other hand registered a decline, where the market transacted a total of 5.5 million shares in the first week compared to 10.4 million shares that were transacted in the first week of January 2022.
In terms of the actual number of transactions, there was a significant shift upwards. The market registered a total of 75 transactions compared to 32 transactions in the first week of January 2022.
In an interview, MSE Chief Operating Officer Keline Kondowe said, generally, the number of transactions has been increasing since trading activity was automated on the MSE.
“We have further seen increased interest from the general public, which is further pushing upwards the number of transactions by individual investors despite the drop in volumes. We are looking forward to 2023 with much optimism. There are quite a number of developments within the macroeconomic environment that have impacted the growth trajectory of the economy but we believe, little by little, progress is being registered.
“There are a number of projects we are working towards in line with the Malawi Capital Market Development Plan and we believe these will bring excitement to the market. Hopefully, with these initiatives, some of the challenges that have been there for so long will get to be solved,” Kondowe said.
Stockbrokers Malawi Limited Chief Executive Officer Noel Kadzakumanja said the market has started well, considering that activity is usually slow in the early days of the year.
“Trading is usually slow this time of the year and, therefore the performance of the market should be appreciated but, surely, there will be a significant pick up in coming weeks,” Kadzakumanja said. The market closed 2022 on a high, having registered a return of 31.8 percent as of November, which was above inflation.
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