Backed by a decline in stock prices, the market capitalization of the Nairobi Securities Exchange declined further this week to Kes 1.96 Trillion from the Kes 2.0 Trillion recorded the previous week. This was in line with the books closure for dividend consideration on Safaricom; the largest company by market cap and WPP Scangroup Plc.
The benchmark NSE All share index (NASI) maintained a downward trajectory, shedding 2.65 points or 1.99% in weekly decline to close Friday at 130.58 points. This represented a 4-week loss of 1.46%, and an overall year-to-date loss of -21.53%.
The NSE 20 and the NSE25 share indices similarly shook-off 46.06 points and 68.90 points to close the week at 1,758.08 and 2,990.66 points respectively. The NSE 20 share index has shed up-to 33.77% in index vaue since the year began.
In terms of activity, the NSE recorded an increase in activity in both volumes and value, with the turnover for the market closing at Kes 2.9 Billion achieved on trades of 130 million shares against the 52 million shares valued at Kes.1.5 billion transacted the previous week.
Safaricom, KCB Group and Equity Group were the most traded counters this week. Safaricom declined by 1.60% to Kes.27.70, down from the Kes.28.15 registered the previous week with shares worth Kes.2 Billion transacted; this represented 73.97% of the week’s traded value. Equity Bank recouped most of the losses shed in the course of the week, jumping 5.2% on Friday backed by increased local investor trading.
The ABSA NewGold Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) was up 6.06% to Kes.2,100 with 16,000 units valued at Kes.32.5 Million moved on the exchange..
Kenya Reinsurance Corporation & WPP Scangroup Plc released their half year results, recording an impressive turnaround in quarterly earnings against various analyst projections.
The Derivatives Market closed the week with a total of 46 contracts valued at Kes.1.30 Million concluded on the NSE while the secondary bond market on the Nairobi Securities Exchange closed the week with bonds worth Kes.14 billion transacted compared to Kes.21.6 billion registered the previous week, showing decline in investor appetite on fixed income securities.
