NSE Closes in the Red During Monday Session

Foreign Investor Participation

Foreign participation in the session stood at 87.30 percent of total turnover while local investors accounted for 12.70 percent.

The session was characterized by distributive activities with net outflows of 8.26 million shillings compared to net inflows of 6.13 million shillings recorded in the previous session.

Safaricom Ltd. (NSE: SCOM) registered a turnover of 169.43 million shillings with 54.70 percent of total activity vs. 62.66 percent foreign investor activity making it the top traded stock in Monday’s session.

KCB Group Ltd (NSE: KCB) came second with a turnover of 35.59 million shillings; accounting for 11.49 percent of total market activity and 13.16 percent of foreign investor activity.

Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Ltd. (NSE: SCBK) logged the day’s highest net inflows of 0.377 million shillings, while KCB Group Ltd (NSE: KCB) enumerated the day’s highest net outflows, 3.70 million shillings.

Equities Market

The market closed in the red during Monday’s trading session with all indices beginning the week trending south at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).

The Nairobi All Share Index (NASI) was down 0.22 percent to close the day at 124.66 points relative to Friday’s 124.93 points. Similarly, the NSE-20 Share and the NSE-25 Share indices shed 0.12 percent and 0.39 percent to rest at 2945.33 and 3236.52 respectively.

The market turnover was 309.89 million shillings which was 19.94 percent lower from last session whilst market capitalization shrunk 0.22 percent to 1.81 trillion shillings in Monday’s session. The A/D ratio, an unbiased measure of market breadth, closed with the gainers (14) vis-à-vis losers (15).

The Agricultural sector gained 1.82 percent topping the highest gaining sector’s list boosted by three of its constituent counters Sasini Ltd (NSE: SASN), Williamson Tea Kenya Ltd (NSE: WTK) and Kapchorua Tea Co. Ltd (NSE: KAPC) which gained 6.43, 2.50 and 1.99 percent respectively.

The laggard sector for the day was Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) which lost 9.32 percent on account of the share performance of its sole constituent Stanlib Fahari I-Reit(NSE: FAHR-I). The counter closed the session at 10.70 shillings trading 4,100 shares which translated to a value of 43,870 shillings as a result of retail supply and demand.

Shilling’s Performance

The Kenyan shilling posted mixed performance against a basket of select currencies on Monday’s session.

The US dollar was quoted at 103.45/65 shillings resulting from an increase in foreign exchange inflows from non-governmental organizations into the country.

Across the board, the Kenyan currency weakened 0.10 percent against the pound and strengthened 0.52 percent against the euro.

Regionally, the Kenyan currency strengthened 0.28 percent and 0.37 percent to the Ugandan and Tanzanian Shilling respectively. The Ugandan shilling (against the greenback) was weighed down by expectations of increased demand by foreign-owned entities looking to pay dividends to their shareholders abroad.

Related: How to Invest at the Nairobi Securities Exchange