The Astana International Exchange (AIX) provides its monthly overview of the market activity for October 2021
Trading volume on AIX
In October 2021, the total trading volume on AIX was USD 14,349,200, down 30.74 percent from the previous month. At the same time, activity on the AIX continues to grow relative to last year – from January to October 2021, trading volume has increased 3.6 times compared to the trading volume for the same period last year.
Issuers, brokers, accounts
As of the end of October 2021, 111 securities from 66 different issuers were listed on the AIX official list, including 2 ETFs (Exchange traded funds) and 15 ETNs (Exchange traded notes). AIX trading members are 18 Kazakhstani and 11 international brokers. More than 155 thousand investor accounts have been opened in the AIX Central Securities Depository.
In October, the common shares of the Kaspi.kz holding were added to the AIX’s official list. The total number of Kaspi.kz shares admitted to trading is 192,187,223 out of 199,500,000, thus, up to 96% of the free-floating common shares of the fintech holding may be sold through AIX. The listing is expected to increase the liquidity of Kaspi.kz shares and give shareholders the additional convenience to own and trade the company’s common shares more easily.
Additionally, AIX listed debt securities worth USD 500 million and USD 66 million from Samruk-Kazyna National Welfare Fund JSC and Freedom Finance SPC Ltd, respectively, in October. The Sovereign Wealth Fund completed its initial placement of five-year Eurobonds worth USD 500 million at a coupon rate of 2.0 percent on AIX, KASE, and LSE. Participation through AIX amounted to USD 57 million. A significant excess of demand over supply resulted in lowering the target pricing rate from 2.5% to 2.3% +/- 5 basis points, with a final reoffer yield of 2.25%, setting a record low spread to sovereign Eurobonds.
At the end of October, the total market capitalization of the companies listed on AIX (Kazatomprom, Polymetal, Halyk Bank, Ferro-Alloy Resources Limited, CenterCredit Bank, Kaspi.kz, Kcell) exceeded 54 billion USD.
AIXQI Index
October was the best month for the AIXQI index since its launch, with the index value increasing by 13.8 percent, from 1,031.61 to 1,173.98 points, and all eight index companies finishing in the green zone. Kazatomprom’s shares, which increased by 35.8 percent, were the fastest growing. Investor demand for the company remains strong, owing to the favorable uranium market forecasts, which have improved fundamentally as a result of the United States, China, the European Union, and Russia’s growing interest in nuclear energy as part of the global energy transition.
Kaspi.kz shares increased significantly in the aftermath of strong quarterly results (by 23.24 percent). Central Asia Metal’s (11.76 percent) and Polymetal’s (11.52 percent) share prices increased, partially recouping the September global decline in non-ferrous metals quotations due to China’s energy crisis. Banking sector stocks included in the AIXQI index, also demonstrated growth – the share price of CenterCredit Bank increased by 9.93 percent, while the share price of Halyk Bank increased by 5.14 percent. Slight growth was also noted in Kazakhtelecom and KazTransOil with 3.14 percent and 1.83 percent growth, respectively.
