[2007-12-05]  Festive profit taking drags BSE down
As weakening associated with the festive season dominates on the bourse, profit takers continue to descend on the Botswana Stock Exchange with losses recorded on both domestic and foreign counters.

In the period leading up to Christmas holidays, markets are usually on the soft side as stockholders dispose of their shares seeking liquidity for the holiday season.

Last week, the mainstream index, the DCI, went down by 0.74 percent to close the week at 8948.21 percent, pulled down by losses in large caps Barclays, Letshego and BIHL. BIHL recorded the heaviest loss of the week, shedding 3.74 percent while Barclays lost a moderate 1.13 percent and Letshego declined by 1.59 percent. The biggest gainer of the week was from the domestic counters was Turnstar, which added on 3.33 percent. Losses were also recorded on the foreign board, with AF Diamonds shedding 24 percent to lead the losers' pack. AF Copper also lost a significant 16 percent while CIC Energy went down 13 percent.

But despite these heavy losses, the FCI only declined by only 0.06 percent to close the week at 2203.88 points, as the three are small caps on the board.

The week also saw a new counter coming on board in the form of Australian energy company, Aviva, which listed in the form of an introduction last Monday.

Aviva, which is also listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, entered into an agreement to earn a 90 percent parent interest in the Mmamantswe coal project, 70 km north of Gaborone, where it is targeting 600 metric tonnes of coal. Apart from developing a power station in the area, the company believes it can also produce some low phosphorus metallurgical and coking products for exports to South Africa. Trading of Aviva's shares took off at 456 thebe per share on Monday and closed Friday's trading at 40 thebe with over 55,000 shares changing hands.



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