Mixed Performance Witnessed at the NSE During Tuesday’s Trading Session

The Nairobi All Share Index (NASI) shed a marginal 0.05 percent on Tuesday’s trading session to close the day at 125.00 points while both the NSE-20 and the NSE-25 Share Indices rallied by 0.54 percent and 0.40 percent to close at 2882.74 and 3236.09 points respectively.

The mixed performance was against a backdrop of a 38.98 percentage decrease in equity turnover and a 0.05 percentage reduction in shareholders’ wealth relative to Monday’s trading session. Market breadth on the other hand, measured by the A/D ratio, closed at 1.31x.

The Investment sector was the top gaining sector on the heels of share appreciation in Centum Investment Co. Ltd (NSE: ICDC), Home Afrika Ltd (NSE: HAFR) and Olympia Capital Holdings Ltd (NSE: OCH) counters.

The biggest laggard was the Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT) which retreated 3.23 percent during the session, dragged down by its sole counter Stanlib Fahari I-REIT (NSE:FAHR-I). The counter has been oscillating on its price share in the past four trading sessions owing to demand and supply by retail investors.

Foreign Investors Participation at the NSE on Tuesday

Foreign investors accounted for 65.00 percent of total turnover against 66.97 percent recorded in the previous session.

Distributive activities dominated the session with net outflows of 186.26 million shillings compared to Friday’s net inflows of 16.89 million shillings.

Safaricom Ltd. (NSE: SCOM), represented 16.97 percent of total activity and 30.46 percent of foreign investor activity. The counter recorded a turnover of 108.38 million shillings as the day’s most traded stock.

East African Breweries Ltd (NSE: EABL) came second, recording a turnover of 76.94 million shillings, accounting for 13.96 percent of total market activity and 21.63 percent of foreign investor activity.

The day’s highest net inflows of 11.18 million shillings were recorded by Equity Group Holdings Ltd. (NSE: EQTY) while Diamond Trust Bank Ltd. (NSE: DTK) posted the day’s highest net outflows 14.05 million shillings.

Performance of the shilling on Tuesday

The Kenyan shilling extended the previous session’s bullish run, advancing against five of the seven international and regional currencies.

The local currency shed a marginal 0.03 percent against the dollar; boosted by dollar inflows from non-governmental organizations coupled with diaspora remittances.

The shilling has steadied against the greenback; clawing back 0.36 percent from 2017 high of 104.05. December US Trade deficit data released on Tuesday showed an improvement at USD 44.3Bn against USD 45.2Bn recorded in November.