By JAMES ANYANZWA

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Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) started the new year on a weak footing with equity turnover falling by 73.8 percent to Ush 2.05 billion ($579,828) in January.

According to the bourse’s monthly bulletin for January, the value of shares traded declined to Ush2.05 billion from Ush7.8 billion ($2.2 million) in December last year (2021),representing a daily average turnover of about Ush103 million ($29,132.8).

The volume of shares traded plunged by 84 percent to 41 million shares from 256 million shares while the number of deals fell by 15 percent to 371 deals down from 435 deals, with MTN Uganda accounting for 53 per cent of the deals in the same period. According to the report, Stanbic counter dominated activity for the month, accounting for 47.2 percent of the total turnover followed by MTN Uganda (34.15 percent) and Umeme (17.5 per cent).

Uganda Clays, Bank of Baroda Uganda, New Vision Limited, DFCU and CIPLA combined recorded 1.16 percent of the total turnover.

Stanbic Uganda registered the highest volume (83.54 percent) of shares, followed by MTN Uganda (9.15 percent), Umeme (4.53 percent) and Uganda Clays (2.65 percent). Bank of Baroda Uganda accounted for 0.09 percent of the shares traded while New Vision Ltd , CIPLA and DFCU combined had the least number of shares traded amounting to 18,700 shares (0.05 percent).

According to the report, the Local Company Index (LCI) decreased by 3.42 percent to 313.53 in January from 324.66 in December 2021 with many local counters registering minimal price movements. The All Share Index (ALSI) declined by 3.61 percent to 1369.35 from 1420.69 in the same period.

There were two treasury bonds listed in January, which were re-openings with a value of Ush 500 billion ($141.42 million).

The corporate Bonds segment remained inactive throughout the period with investors continuing to hold onto their investments and receive interest that is paid out semi-annually.