The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) experienced a broadly negative trading session on Wednesday, marked by a significant decline in investor activity. The total value of share traded plummeted by 50.5% falling to KES 604. 21 million from the previous day’s KES 1.22 billion.
Despite the overall downturn of events, there were few positive sentiments that supported the market. Uchumi Supermarket emerged as the day’s top gainer, climbing 5.3% followed by the Absa New Gold ETF, which gained 3.8% to close at KES 5,190.00. Other stocks that posted gains included Britam Holdings and Jubilee Holdings, which rose by 3.4% and 3.0% respectively, alongside smaller gains from Absa Bank and British American Tobacco at 0.2% and 0.1% to KES 25.85 and KES 9.00, respectively.
On the opposite end, Umeme and Standard Group were the session’s biggest losers, shedding 5.7% and 4.7% of their value to close at KES 7.00 and KES 6.12 respectively.
NSE Indices Performance
The bearish sentiment was clearly reflected across the market’s key indicators, as the NSE All Share Index (NASI), a primary gauge of performance, dropped by 1.0% to close at 187.12. This downward trend was largely driven by losses in some of the market’s most influential companies. Notable performers that ended the day lower included Equity Group Holdings which fell by 3.3%, KCB Group down 3.0%, Safaricom Plc dipped by 0.7% and East African Breweries recorded a slight loss of 0.2%.
The bearish pressure was widespread, with other major indices also closing in the red. The NSE 10, NSE 20 and NSE 25 indices fell by 1.3%, 0.7% and 1.2% respectively, while the banking sector index saw a pronounced decline of 1.6%
NSE Trading Volume and Turnover
In terms of trading activity, British American Tobacco (BAT) Kenya was the most traded stock, generating a turnover of KES 217.43 million. KCB Group followed as the second most traded counter, with a turnover of KES 132.11 million. Meanwhile on the derivatives market, activity also had a downturn. The total volume and value of traded contracts saw a moderate plunge, and the number of open interest contracts decreased by 1.73% to 3,690 from 3,755 recorded in the previous session.
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