Story of the Day:
Four weeks into the month of July 2021 bond trading, we had a full week without trading activity which was the case last week as well. The bond market has been quite mundane as there have been little to zero trading occurring. Read more
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The Economics Association of Zambia (EAZ) has projected that the Kwacha may in the next three weeks trade around K15 to one US dollar. EAZ President Lubinda Haabazoka also says the rebound of the currency is due to investor confidence in the management of the country’s economy. Read more: ZNBC
Copper prices yesterday rose to their highest in nearly six weeks as investors left a subdued equities market for more attractive assets and as floods in China sparked supply concern.
The commodity which is Zambia’s major foreign exchange earner was trading at US$9,632 from US$9,461.50 a tonne on Friday. Read more: Zambia Daily Mail
Over K6.4 billion has been disbursed by Bank of Zambia (BoZ) as at June 30, 2021 under the K10 billion stimulus package. In April last year, the central bank announced a K10 billion Targeted Medium Term Refinancing Facility to assist with liquidity to businesses and individuals during the coronavirus era. Read more: Zambia Daily Mail
Bankers Association of Zambia (BAZ) Chief Executive Officer Leonard Mwanza says government is expected to finalise reconciliations with financial institutions and to also pay off loans on behalf of civil servants by July 31. Read more: News Diggers
International Business and Finance
The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday that it expects the global economy to expand 6% this year — a dramatic bounce-back from the 3.2% contraction in the pandemic year of 2020. The IMF’s forecast, unchanged from its previous estimate in April, would mark the fastest calendar-year global growth in records dating to 1980. Read more: CGTN
U.S. president, Joe Biden will announce a new push on Tuesday to expand business ties between American companies and Africa, with a focus on building essential digital, health and physical infrastructure on the continent, a senior U.S. official said. Read more: CGTN
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has indicated that the country will launch its own digital currency. He stated that the currency which will be launched in October this year would be called ‘E-Naira.’ Read more: Business Insider
Tech giants have reported soaring profits as consumers upgraded their devices and sought cloud storage during lockdowns. Apple’s profits nearly doubled to $21.7bn in the three months to 30 June as customers bought pricier 5G iPhones. Microsoft saw a $16.5bn profit at the same time – up 47% year-on-year, due to demand for cloud services and games. Google’s parent company, Alphabet, also reported on Tuesday that quarterly sales and profits had surged to record highs. Read more: BBC News
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In 83 trades recorded yesterday, 366,295 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K981,270. A share price loss was recorded in Standard Chartered Zambia of K0.01. Trading activity was also recorded in British American Tobacco Zambia, Copperbelt Energy Corporation, Lafarge, Madison Financial Services, Pamodzi, SHOP, Zambia Breweries, Zambeef and Zanaco. The LuSE All Share index (LASI) closed at 4,634.01 points, 0.08% down from its previous close of 4,637.83 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K60,964,993,775 including Shoprite Holdings and K26,182,308,335 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Chart of the Day: