Story of the Day:
Two weeks into the month of March 2020 trading on the LuSE, we see the bond market revert back to its old pattern of completely dominating the equities market with a score of 100%. Last week we saw a score of 98% to 2% which we thought would be a turning point for the equities market but alas once again it was short lived. Read more
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ZCCM-IH chief executive officer Mabvuto Chipata says talks with various companies outside Zambia are at an advanced stage to secure a viable market for the off-take of gold that will be due to be sold. And Chipata has announced that ZCCM-IH will be offering a competitive price for gold from the local market, pegged at a starting price of K550 per gramme. Read more: News Diggers
After recognising that smallholder farmers are important to Zambia’s economy, Zanaco partnered with the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and Agrifin Accelerate (AFA)/Mercy Corps, to develop Agripay, a strategy that brings digital banking to 9.7mn people in rural locations. Read more: Africa Business Chief
Vice President Inonge Wina has attributed the continued depreciation of the Kwacha against major currencies to Covid-19, the novel coronavirus that has spread to most parts of the world. Read more: News Diggers
The Jesuit Center for Theological Reflection’s (JCTR) Basic Needs and Nutrition Basket which measures the cost of living for a family of 5 stood at K7, 015.90 for the month of February 2020, recording a 5.33 percent decline from K7,410.96 in January 2020. The basket between January and February 2020 reduced by K395.06, however, when compared to same month February 2019, the basket stood at K5,331.12, which is an increase year on year of about 32%. Read more: Zambian Business Times
A significant overshooting of the fiscal deficit in 2019 highlights the Zambian government’s difficulties in reining in debt accumulation, Fitch Ratings says. Already high debt levels will remain a key vulnerability, even if recently announced measures are effective in slowing the pace of further debt accumulation. Read more: Lusaka Times
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The 2020 national budget aims, in the face of the cataloged challenges that the country is going through, to stimulate the domestic economy. Read more
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The world economy has fallen into recession, suffering from a “wicked cocktail” of coronavirus and the dramatic action to limit its spread, according to four former IMF chief economists. As the virus has spread from China to the rest of the world, economists no longer feel they have to wait for data to confirm the world is in recession, even though official forecasts remain more optimistic. Read more: Financial Times
The Federal Reserve, saying “the coronavirus outbreak has harmed communities and disrupted economic activity in many countries, including the United States,” cut interest rates to essentially zero on Sunday and launched a massive $700 billion quantitative easing program to shelter the economy from the effects of the virus. Read more: CNBC
Goldman Sachs Group Inc has downgraded its U.S. growth forecast for the first and second quarters in the wake of the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak. In a note sent on Sunday, the U.S. bank said it now sees real gross domestic product growth of 0% in the first three months of the year, from its original estimate of 0.7% expansion. For the second quarter, it sees U.S. growth contracting to -5.0% from its initial forecast of 0%. Read more: Reuters
Microsoft on Friday announced that co-founder Bill Gates has left its board of directors to devote more time to philanthropy. Read more: Economic Times
British Airways is to ground flights ‘like never before’ and lay off staff in response to the coronavirus. In a memo to staff titled “The Survival of British Airways”, boss Alex Cruz warned that job cuts could be “short term, perhaps long term”. Read more: BBC News
Bitcoin felt the brunt of a historic week in which the impact of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. accelerated at a pace most couldn’t have imagined. It lost 50% of its value in a single day Thursday and dipped below $4,000 that evening for the first time since last March. By Friday morning, it had recovered some of its losses, rebounding to close to $6,000. Read more: Forbes
An epic battle between Russia and Saudi Arabia. Shrinking demand for jet fuel, gasoline and diesel. And now an unprecedented travel ban between the United States and Europe. It’s a nightmare scenario for the oil market. US crude oil plunged another 6% to $31 a barrel on Thursday after President Donald Trump announced the travel restrictions with Europe in a bid to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Crude dropped to as low as $30.02 a barrel. At that level, it was down 27% for the week. Read more: CNN
Capital Markets Report
In 2 trades recorded on Friday, 43 shares were transacted yielding a market turnover of K1,353. Trading activity was recorded in AELZ. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) maintained its close at 4,243.65 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K57,290,027,573 including Shoprite Holdings and K23,050,821,593 excluding Shoprite Holdings
Chart of the Day: