The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 225.92 points, or 0.85%, to 26,313.65, the S&P 500 lost 12.22 points, or 0.38%, to 3,246.22 and the Nasdaq Composite added 44.87 points, or 0.43%, to 10,587.81.

The derivatives market of the NSE had 5 contracts valued at Kes 141,500 concluded in today's trading session. This was against the 4 contracts valued at Kes 114,000 concluded in previous trading session.

Ndegwa said Nganga took up leadership reins at a time when government was starting to  process of offering 25% of its shares to the public through the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) in 2008.

The Japanese yen traded at 105.03 per dollar following its strengthening earlier in the trading week from levels above 105.3 against the greenback. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7175 after rising from levels below $0.712 this week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 160.29 points, or 0.61%, to 26,539.57, the S&P 500 gained 40 points, or 1.24%, to 3,258.44 and the Nasdaq Composite added 140.85 points, or 1.35%, to 10,542.94.