Equities Market Closes on a Positive Note

The equities market posted gains as the NSE All Share index inched up by 1.18% to close at 144.60 points from 142.91 points the previous day. The NSE-20 share index followed suit, advancing marginally by 0.53% to close at 3478.97 points while the NSE 25 Share Index went up by 0.65% closing at 3961.47 points. Market

Market capitalization expanded marginally by 1.27% to close at KES 2,082.67 billion from KES 2,056.47 billion. Equity turnover however bucked the trend, plummeting by 7.78% to close trading at KES 0.688.65Bn. Market breadth, the measure of market performance however favored the advancers as 20 stocks appreciated in price against 19 advancers.

Atlas African Industries (NSE: ADSS) has announced that it has acquired an interest in BonanzaWin, a Nigerian based gaming company offering a range of online and real-play gaming experiences including sports betting, casino slot games, and lotto.

The company has invested about USD 300,000 in consideration for a 10% equity stake in Equatorial Partners Limited, which is the holding company that in turn holds a 60% stake in Saerimner Ltd (‘Saerimner’), a Nigerian registered company operating under the trading name “BonanzaWin”. BonanzaWin is licenced and regulated by the Lagos State Lottery Board and Atlas foresees this as an enthralling investment opportunity to access Nigeria’s growing gaming and entertainment sectors.

Currencies

As the week commenced, the Kenyan shilling got off to a slow start – weakening against all but two of its international and regional peers. With a turbulent week ahead, particularly against the US Dollar and the British Pound we can expect a similar downward trend against the local currency. On the day, the USDKES pair weakened by 0.01%; despite the greenback being weighed by results that the world’s largest economy grew at a slower pace than expected (1.2% annualized growth rate).

The disappointing data lessened the threat of an early interest rate hike, with weaker-than-expected manufacturing data further adversely affected the greenback; currency players cited that the largest flows in the past week have been into the euro and out of the dollar.  In a ripple effect manner -and in theory- worsened growth prospects should strengthen expectations of yet looser monetary policy in Europe and Japan and hence bode ill for the yen and the euro. The EUR/KES pair shed by 0.13%, as the Euro climbed to five week highs against its own basket of currencies.