The 16-counter Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE) registered a positive return on the index in April as reflected in the upward movement of the Malawi All Share Index (Masi) buoyed by price gains  in five counters.

The latest MSE Market Report for  April  indicates that the shares market was bullish as Masi moved from 45921.23  points in  March to 46934.16 points in April on account of price gains in FMBCH, National Investment Trust Limited (NITL),  Illovo, National Bank,  NBS Bank and Airtel.

FMBCH recorded a 38.73 percent jump in its share price followed by NITL which gained by 15.8 percent, then National Bank at 0.06 percent.

Airtel and Illovo share prices, on the other hand, also gained by 0.05 percent and 0.03 percent, respectively.

“The price gains were enough to offset share price losses registered by TNM, ICON, FDH Bank, Press Corporation Limited and NBS Bank resulting in an upward movement of the Masi,” reads the report in part.

According to the report, the market transacted a total of 56 million shares at a total consideration of K7.2 billion in 312 trades, a jump from 49 million shares traded at a total consideration of K1.7 billion in 306 trades in March.

This reflects a 15.35 percent increase in terms of share volume traded and a 304.29 percent increase in share value traded.

The MSE report further indicates that daily average share trades exhibited similar trends where the market registered an average daily volume of 2.9 million shares compared to 2.3 million shares traded in March, reflecting an increase of 27.49 percent

According to the report the average daily turnover for April 2022 was K381 million compared to K85 million in March, reflecting an increase of 346.84 percent.

Explaining the performance, market analyst Cosmas Chigwe observed that the increase in trading activity, among others, can be linked to the release of most of the financial results for listed counters.

He said: “With the results it means most investors, especially those who could be privy to some information before publication of results, were now out of the closed period which meant they can now trade freely.

“Besides, the release of the results also prompts investors to re- assess the value of a counter in light of the performance registered. This results in activity as investors buy and sell some shares depending on their assessment.”

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