Bank stocks slide more as investors weigh Brexit effects

What you need to know:

Nine of the 11 listed banks have seen their share prices fall by between one and seven per cent in the last three trading sessions, during which the NSE 20 share index has shed 2.9 per cent or 108 points to close at 3636 Tuesday.
Since Thursday, the sharpest decline among the banks has been that of Diamond Trust Bank, which shed 6.8 per cent to Sh165 and Standard Chartered which has dropped by five per cent to Sh205.

Bank stocks Tuesday continued on a downward trend at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) as institutional investors took a cautious stance as they digest the effects of the United Kingdom vote to leave the European Union (EU).

The vote was widely referred to as ‘Brexit’.

Nine of the 11 listed banks have seen their share prices fall by between one and seven per cent in the last three trading sessions, during which the NSE 20 share index has shed 2.9 per cent or 108 points to close at 3636 Tuesday.

“Foreign investors had minimal activity as they took a ‘wait and see’ strategy due to the current volatility in the global markets after the Brexit vote.”

“The NSE 20 share index is currently at lows last seen in 2012 due to sell-off pressure by most large-cap stocks,” said ABC capital in a market note.

Drop in valuations

Trading turnover fell to Sh298 million Tuesday from Sh372 million on Monday.

The average turnover last week stood at Sh764 million.

Since Thursday, the sharpest decline among the banks has been that of Diamond Trust Bank, which shed 6.8 per cent to Sh165 and Standard Chartered which has dropped by five per cent to Sh205.

Only Housing Finance (HF) and I&M Holdings have avoided a drop in valuation over the three sessions, trading at an unchanged Sh20 and Sh108 a share respectively.