Story of the Day:
The board of Zambia’s largest mining explosives company, AEL Zambia Plc has announced an interim dividend of K2 per share to be paid to shareholders of its LuSE listed shares. Read more
Local Business and Finance
Zambia’s gross domestic product grew 4% in 2018, the country’s statistics agency said on Thursday, in a final reading that exceeded an initial figure of 3.7%. Read more: Reuters
Zambia is forecast to have currency and interest rate bears as the year decays. Excess dollar demand exacerbated by energy funding needs and debt service is projected to weigh the exchange rate while the finance ministries need to reign in on targeted fiscal deficit could widen yields on government securities. Read more: The Business Telegraph
With private sector pulse numbers for African nations due on Monday 04 November, Zambia’s factory readings for October are expected to slide deeper in contraction. Last printed at 48 in September, Africa’s red metal hotspot is forecast to print PMI at between 46-47. Read more: The Business Telegraph
Trade Kings Group is losing over US$400,000 daily because the company is unable to export some of its products to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Read more: ZNBC
The Bank of Zambia (BOZ) has called for effective ways of linking informal and formal banking services to improve financial inclusion. BOZ Governor Denny Kalyalya says new financial services such as village banking and savings groups have proved to be effective financial service provider agents in rural and urban areas. Read more: Lusaka Times
Tourism minister Ronald Chitotela has stated that the situation analysis for the development of the tourism master plan has revealed that Zambia is branded as a high cost tourist destination, partly due to the excessive use of imported materials in the tourism industry for such facilities as accommodation and furnishings. Read more: Zambian Business Times
International Business and Finance
Sudan has agreed a roadmap to “rehabilitate” the country with the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and African Development Bank, its finance minister said on Thursday. Read more: Africa News
Saudi Arabia’s giant state oil company finally kick-started its initial public offering (IPO) on Sunday, announcing its intention to float on the domestic bourse in what could be the world’s biggest listing as the kingdom seeks to diversify its economy away from oil. Read more: Reuters
The Labor Department reported that America added 128,000 jobs last month. This keeps U.S. unemployment hovering at a low 3.6%. Read more: Forbes
Once again a Brexit deadline has come and gone, leaving business nursing stockpiles of essential product and equipment. Read more: BBC News
The U.S. dollar index could fall to as low as 85 as the Federal Reserve grows its balance sheet again by purchasing more bond assets, a Citi strategist said Thursday. Read more: CNBC
The mood in base-metals markets has turned so miserable that copper-mining giant Freeport-McMoRan Inc. turned to a local gospel choir to add some cheer as the industry gathers in London. Freeport put in a last-minute call for the group to help Chief Executive Officer Richard Adkerson wind down the week on a high note. Read more: Bloomberg
McDonald’s fired chief executive Steve Easterbrook after the fast-food giant’s board of directors found that he “demonstrated poor judgment” in a consensual relationship with an employee, the company announced Sunday. Read more: Washington Post
China just switched on the world’s largest 5G network. The country’s three state-run telecom operators launched services for the next generation wireless technology on Friday. Read more: CNN
Goldman Sachs has lent out about $10 billion in credit to Apple customers so far, according to its recent regulatory filing. Apple rolled out its first credit card, aptly named the Apple Card, in August. As the new Apple Card rolled out, some of its first members had no credit history or below-average credit scores. Read more: CNN
Capital Markets Report
In 5 trades recorded yesterday, 2,729 shares were transacted, resulting in a market turnover of K2,797. Trading activity was recorded in Copperbelt Energy Corporation, Lafarge, PUMA, Zambeef and Zanaco. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 4,312.77 points down by 0.41% from its previous close of 4,330.56 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K56,756,287,458 including Shoprite Holdings and K22,517,081,478 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Chart of the Day: