Market Wrap: MTN dips slightly as muted trading drags weekly turnover

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Shares of MTN edged lower at the close of Monday’s trading session by 0.01% to trade at sh474.95 per share at the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE).

Stanbic Holdings also shed 0.51% to close trading at sh78.58 per share during the session. Other counters' stock prices remained largely unchanged.

As of the week ending March 27, activity on the USE softened, and investor appetite remained subdued. Weekly turnover fell sharply to sh477.64m from sh1.79bn the previous week, according to Crested Capital, with only seven counters active.

A total of 6.8 million shares changed hands, down from 13.9 million as listed companies release their earnings reports.

Bank of Baroda led the market by value traded, posting sh148.07m from 3.39 million shares. MTN followed with sh140.64m from 295,074 shares, while Stanbic Holdings recorded sh119.98m from just over 2 million shares. Umeme also featured among the top movers with sh59.33m in turnover.

Airtel Uganda saw modest activity at sh9.35m, while Quality Chemicals Industries Limited (QCIL) and NIC Holdings Limited posted negligible trades.

On the price front during the week in review, Airtel stood out among local counters, gaining 7.25% to sh124. QCIL rose 2.48% to sh124, while Umeme inched up 0.02% to sh58. Baroda Uganda declined 0.37% to sh49, and NIC remained unchanged at sh5.

Among cross-listed stocks, only Jubilee Holdings registered a marginal gain of 0.01%. The rest of the board leaned negative, with Centum Investment Company down 6.23%, East African Breweries Limited falling 4.84%, and Equity Group Holdings shedding 10.51%. KCB Group dropped 11.70%, Kenya Airways lost 9.97%, while Nation Media Group declined 6.03%.

The USE All Share Index fell 3.91% to 1,971.01, weighed down by losses in cross-listed counters, while the Local Companies Index rose 1.60% to 528.26, supported by gains in select domestic stocks.