By the close of trade in 2020, the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) All Share Index was up 1 045.84% to 2 636.34 which marks the biggest single-year climb for the local exchange in a decade.
Last year’s gains were helped along by high inflation, undervalued stocks and the continued decline of the local currency.
The Top 10 Index was the poorest performer posting a 724.68% increase to close at a record high of 1 671.47. Leading the way was the Middle Cap Index which was up 1 808.02% to close at 5 491.09 which is it’s highest ever climb. In terms of value, the ZSE’s market capitalisation closed the year up by 968% to post ZWL$317 billion up from the ZWL$29 million that was registered in 2019.
All of this means that the equities market which closed of 2019 (when the official rate was ZWL$16.77) with a value of US$1.77 billion grew by 115.5% to US$3.88 billion going by the official auction rate of ZWL$81.78.
This marks the biggest market capitalisation advance (968%) since the 104% that was recorded in 2018. However, according to a report by Business Weekly, some analysts say that the 2017-18 valuations were not accurate because of the 1:1 rate that was maintained by the financial authorities.
