The Nairobi bourse ended the trading week on a positive a note. The All Share Index (NASI) gained 1.15% to close the week 140.87 basis points as against the 139.27 points recorded at the close of the previous week. This represented a month’s gain of 8.81% and a Year-to-Date (YTD) returns decline of 15.35%.
The Nairobi Securities Exchange printed negative activity however as volume and turnover declined during the week, with 92 million shares valued at Kes.2.4 billion against 122 million shares valued at Kes.2.96 billion transacted the previous week.
Safaricom Plc maintained the top chart within the week, with 51.5 million shares valued at Kes.1.5 billion, this represented a 63.15% of the week,s traded value.By price action, Safaricom marginally gained, closing the week at Kes 30.05 from the Kes.29.60 posted Friday last week.
The Financial sector on the NSE had shares worth Kes.640.8 million transacted, accounting for 26.44% of the week’s total turnover. Equity Group Holdings Plc was up by 3.79% to close the week at Kes.37.00 from the Kes.35.65 registered the previous week, with shares worth Kes.418 million transacted. KCB Group similarly closed the week on positive territory, adding 3.13% in price to Kes.37.90 with 3.6 million shares valued at Kes.132 million exchanging hands on the bourse.
The Derivatives Market of the NSE closed the week with a total of 14 contracts valued at Kes.445,000 concluded while the secondary trading on the bond market saw a decline in activity with bonds valued at Kes.21 billion traded as compared to the Kes.32.2 billion registered the previous week.
Outlook
The Nairobi Securities Exchange, finished Friday’s trading session on a bullish note, with an increased foreign demand on the last two days of trading this week. This was despite the falling oil prices in the U.S trading sessions and a decline in activity on global markets.
The NSE has shown resilience and the moderate activity in prices is likely to continue with investors playing defensive.
