Story of the Day:
Four weeks into February 2021, and the equities market has completely underperformed throughout the course of the month. Only week two recorded a 9% to 91% on the bond market. Every other week the bond market completely dominated the equities’ market as we also see with the final week of February 2021 bond trading. Read more
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Zambia’s cabinet has approved the publication and introduction of a bill in parliament for the legalization of the cultivation of cannabis. The cabinet expects that the country will benefit both medically and economically through the enactment of the law on cannabis. Read more: Xinhua
Zambia Forestry and Forest Industry Corporation (ZAFFICO) has raised K144 million from the capital market following its listing on the Lusaka Stock Exchange two years ago. Read more: Zambia Daily Mail
Zamtel has delivered over 790 communication towers out of the 1009 towers that are supposed to be put up under the government communication towers project. The project which is in phase two is inclusive and will allows people in rural areas to have access to reliable network. Read more: ZNBC
Hundreds of KCM employees on the Copperbelt have held a peaceful protest demanding to be paid their redundancy packages. This follows the splitting of the mining firm into two business entities – Konkola Mineral Resources and Konkola Smelter Coal limited. The miners were declared redundant on the 31st of January this year and were to be paid their initial redundancy packages yesterday. Read more: ZNBC
International Business and Finance
Rio Tinto Chairman Simon Thompson is stepping down over the company’s destruction of a 46,000-year-old, sacred Indigenous site in Australia, becoming the latest in a string of departures connected to the event. Read more: CNN
The U.S. economy has roared back to life in 2021, with first-quarter growth set to defy even the rosiest expectations as another fresh influx of cash looms. Manufacturing data Monday showed the sector at its highest growth level since August 2018, at about 10%. Read more: CNBC
India is ready to offer incentives to ensure Tesla’s cost of production would be less than in China if the carmaker commits to making its electric vehicles in the south Asian country, transport minister Nitin Gadkari told Reuters. Gadkari’s pitch comes weeks after billionaire Elon Musk’s Tesla registered a company in India in a step towards entering the country, possibly as soon as mid-2021. Read more: CNBC
Japan’s services sector extended declines in February for a 13th straight month, as business activity was hit by curbs put in place to stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, leading to weak demand. The Purchasing Managers’ Index came in at a seasonally adjusted 46.3, staying below the 50 level that separates contraction from expansion. Read more: Reuters
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In 1 trade recorded yesterday, 204,109 shares were transacted resulting in a market turnover of K520,478. Trading activity was recorded in Zambia Sugar. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) maintained its close at 3,983.90 points, as there were no share price movements. The market closed on a capitalization of K57,665,804,485 including Shoprite Holdings and K23,432,033,300 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Chart of the Day: