The record-breaking trading volume was due to the implementation of a
share swap deal between Naspers and Prosus this week, which allowed
Naspers shareholders to swap their shares for newly created shares in
Prosus.
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READ | Naspers-Prosus share swap done and dusted
The transaction increased the number of tradeable shares in Prosus and shrank the number of Naspers tradeable shares.
This
meant that Naspers now has a smaller weighting in the JSE's indices,
and index-tracking funds had to sell their Naspers shares (and buy
Prosus shares) to reflect this, said FNB Wealth and Investments head of
research Chantal Marx.
This fuelled the record trading volumes on
the JSE on Tuesday. Naspers' share price slumped 8% following the
“rebalancing” – but also due a fall in the Chinese digital giant's
Tencent's share price on Tuesday. Prosus owns 28% of Tencent.
According to the head of a large dealing desk, the JSE is seemingly struggling with “system issues” due to the record volumes.
By mid-morning on Wednesday, no transactions have been fed through to the JSE's broker deal accounting (BDA) system.
In a statement to clients, the JSE said the next update will be provided at 13:00 on Wednesday.
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