Kenyan Shilling Returns To Familiar Trend

Foreign Investor Participation

The foreign participation substantially increased during Friday’s trading session, accounting for 67.64% of total turnover against 32.36% of local participation. Sell off activities offset buy side, resulting in net outflows worth KES 51.84Mn relative to KES 3.31Mn net inflows on Thursday.

Foreign investors accounted for 67.64% of the NSE turnover as compared to 81.8% on Thursday. Foreign investors engaged in net accumulative activities, resulting in net outflows worth KES 51.84Mn.

Barclays Bank Limited (NSE: BBK) was the day’s highest traded stock, recording a turnover of KES 49.64Mn to account for 10.15% of total market activity and 15.00% of foreign investor activity, followed by British American Tobacco Kenya Limited (NSE: BAT) with a turnover of KES 64.84Mn representing 13.25% of total market activity and 19.60% of foreign investor activity.

Safaricom Limited (NSE: SCOM) posted the day’s highest net inflows worth KES 9.28Mn and the day’s highest net outflows, worth KES 27.89Mn, were posted by Barclays Bank Limited (NSE: BBK).

Shilling Returns To Familiar Trend

Friday’s trading session marked the beginning of an all-too-familiar performance by the shilling, as the currency lost against all but two of its currency comparables. The Kenyan shilling shed a further 0.8% against the dollar, as short-term government securities significantly slumped; reinforcing bearish sentiments on the weeks to come. The looming presence of a US Federal rate hike coupled with investors eyeing U.S employment data for November (to be released later today), resulted in the dollar rallying against a basket of currencies and on the edge of a fresh breakout against key currencies.

The Sterling Pound garnered points against the local currency as Manufacturing Production (MoM) and Trade balance data helped spur sentiments on the recovering economy. On the local front, the shilling continued to weaken against the Ugandan and Tanzanian shilling by 0.27% and 0.78% to 33.39 and 21.12 (respectively).