Kenyan Shilling Inches Down on Monday

Activity in the equities market opened the week on a higher note when compared to last Friday’s, as turnover jumped to Kes 458 from Kes 264mn earlier with 15mn shares traded. Foreign investors’ demand exceeded their own demand as they accounted for 69% and 53% of the total turnover respectively.

Safaricom, Equity bank, ICDC, Kenya Airways and Mumias were the most traded shares. The NASI was almost unchanged at 145.64 points while the NSE 20 Share Index lost slightly by 1.7 points to close the day at 3,962.95 points.

Activity in the bond market increased marginally as turnover improved to Kes 1.94bn from Kes 1.89bn previously. The number of deals transacted dropped to 16 from 30 earlier.

The Kenyan Shilling inched down on Monday mainly due to weaker stock markets abroad. At 0642 GMT, commercial banks posted the shilling at 100.40/50 per dollar, slightly down from Friday’s close of 100.30/40.

Article by Kingdom Securities Ltd.