Secondary Turnover Sheds Off 8.63% Last Week

Secondary market turnover retreated 8.63 percent on a week-to-week to close at 11.96 billion shillings.

Activity in the week was dominated by short-term bonds coupled with longer-dated papers issued in 2018.

The market is awash with shorter-duration papers as a number of investors had sold off their short-term positions in anticipation of an attractive short-term paper at this month’s primary auction. 

The top five bonds accounted for 50.94 percent of the total turnover with the IFB1/2018/15 emerging as the dominant bond in the week.

Sell buyback transactions on FXD1/2008/20 paper accounted for 7.52 percent of the total weekly turnover.

Yields on the 10-17year space edged up slightly in the week. Treasury released its draft Income Tax Bill 2018 in the course of the week.

This brings it a step closer to replace the current Income Tax Act which was asserted in December 1973 and came into force in January 1974. The Bill broadly proposes to broaden the tax net and enhance compliance.