Trading volumes jump while ESE prices remain static

MBABANE – The Eswatini Stock Exchange (ESE) experienced an exceptional rise in trading activity in October 2025.

Equity turnover skyrocketed to E10.3 million, a dramatic leap from just E92 891 in September.

Despite this substantial increase in investor participation, share prices across all listed companies remained unchanged throughout the month, resulting in flat market capitalisation and a stable All-Share Index.

According to the October month-end report, the surge in trading volumes reflects heightened investor engagement and improved liquidity, even though the market did not register any price adjustments.

Environment

The contrast between soaring turnover and static prices paints a picture of an active yet valuation-neutral trading environment.

The most notable development in October was the extraordinary jump in market turnover. The value of shares traded leapt to E10 305 960, representing an over 11 per cent month-on-month increase. This surge was supported by the trading of 5 929 882 shares, marking one of the highest monthly volumes recorded this year.

The year-on-year comparison is even more remarkable: in October 2024, only E7 125 worth of shares were traded – making October 2025’s performance more than 1 400 times higher.

This renewed momentum indicates:

• stronger investor appetite
• increased liquidity on the bourse
• heightened trading interest from both institutional and retail players.
• However, the surge in transactional activity did not lead to shifts in share prices, suggesting that the trades occurred within existing price ranges.

Despite the heightened trading activity, no listed company experienced a share price movement during October. This left market capitalisation unchanged at E6.795 billion, the same level recorded at the end of September.

On an annual basis, market capitalisation declined marginally by 1.26 per cent, dropping from E6.882 billion in October 2024.

The decline reflects the lack of upward price adjustments over the past year.

The market’s valuation structure continues to be dominated by major players:

• First National Bank Eswatini (29.02 per cent)
• Royal Eswatini Sugar Corporation (24.10 per cent)
• SBC Limited (13.06 per cent)
• Swazi Empowerment Limited (10.07 per cent)
• Smaller counters, including Inala Capital and Nkonyeni Pre-cast, remained in the lower percentage ranges of the overall market.

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