Story of the Day:
Four weeks into August 2021, bond trading on the Lusaka Stock exchange. Yet another week in which no trades have been recorded on the bond market leaving the equities market completely eclipsing it recording a score of 100% to 0%. Hoping for a turn around in the weeks to come. Read more
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The Bank of Zambia (BoZ) has maintained the Monetary Policy Rate at 8.5 percent. BoZ Governor Christopher Mvunga says the decision was arrived at because of a favorable exchange rate and improved prospects for fiscal consolidation. He says the committee remained mindful of the subdued economic activity and existing vulnerabilities in the financial system. Read more: ZNBC
Zambia’s new president has told the BBC that he has inherited an “empty” treasury, while “horrifying” amounts of money had been stolen.“People are still trying to make last-minute movements of funds, which are unauthorised, which are not theirs,” President Hakainde Hichilema said. Read more: BBC News
Vedanta Resources on Wednesday said it is keen to open dialogue with Zambia’s ZCCM and reiterated it commitment to invest $1.5 billion into operations, communities and local economies around Konkola Copper Mines in the African nation. Read more: The Free Press Journal
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi spoke by phone on Tuesday with the President Hakainde Hichilema. The Spokesman for the Egyptian Presidency stated that President El-Sisi congratulated the Zambian president for winning the presidential elections and stressed Egypt’s keenness to support Zambia by strengthening cooperation, particularly at the level of investment and trade. Read more: All Africa
Castillo Copper has identified multiple targets for test drilling at the Luanshya project, in Zambia’s Copperbelt, following the completion of eight induced polarisation (IP) survey lines. Read more: Mining Weekly
International Business and Finance
Amazon is looking to hire 55,000 staff globally for corporate jobs and roles in robotics, research and engineering. About 40,000 jobs will be in the US, with 2,500 in the UK and the remainder mostly in India, Germany and Japan. Read more: BBC News
The Nasdaq Composite started September off with a new all-time high, finishing up 0.3%. The S&P 500, which had been on track for a decisive record for much of the day, gave back its modest gains and ended the day flat. The Dow was in the red all day and closed down 0.1%, or 48 points. Read more: CNN
The European Central Bank will announce the reduction of its Covid-related stimulus in December, four analysts told CNBC amid an economic improvement in the euro zone. Read more: CNBC
Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Thursday trade as Australia reported a higher-than-expected trade surplus in July. The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia shed 0.72%. Australia recorded a trade surplus of 12.117 billion Australian dollars (about $8.93 billion) in July, according to data released Thursday by the country’s Bureau of Statistics. Read more: CNBC
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In 65 trades recorded yesterday, 937,922 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K1,262,435. A share price gain of K1.21 was recorded in Zambia Sugar. A share price loss of K0.01 was recorded in Zanaco and in First Quantam Minerals of K0.10. Trading was also recorded in Lafarge, Pamodzi, PUMA, Real Estate Investments Zambia, Standard Chartered Zambia, ZCCM, Zambeef and CEC Africa on the quoted tier. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 4,796.69 points 1.74% up from its previous close of 4,713.13 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K61,673,254,995 including Shoprite Holdings and K26,890,569,555 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Chart of the Day: