Nairobi bourse falls below 5300 as counters shed value

The stock market Monday fell below the 5300 level for the first time in over a month as counters shed value across the board.

The main NSE 20-share index ended the day at nearly 5266 points, shedding 39 points from last Friday’s closing level of 5304. The All-share index also lost ground, shedding 0.45 points to close the day at 172.2 points.

The market had shown signs last week of recovering from a three-week slump.

According to a market report by Standard Investment Bank (SIB), foreign investor participation came in lower at 43.9 per cent compared to 44.9 per cent recorded last Friday. Equity turnover was however higher at Sh562.1 million compared to Friday’s Sh467.5 million.

“KCB, EABL and Safaricom dominated trading jointly accounting for 58.6 per cent of market activity. KCB declined 0.8 per cent on foreign investor trading while Safaricom notched 0.3 per cent higher on local investor trading.

Following media reports which indicated that Total Kenya’s market share for the period ended December 2014 had declined to 20 per cent, the oil marketer retreated 4.7 per cent,” said SIB.

READ: Shell in neck and neck race for top spot with Total

Safaricom once again touched its all-time trading high of Sh16 Monday, but closed 10 cents shy of this mark at Sh15.95 a share.

Banking segment stocks were among the leading losers Monday, as the counters wind down their full year results announcement season in which they have reported improved profits.

The stocks had been rising in the past few weeks as investors reacted to the earnings results, but they are now going through a lull as investors wait for the closure of books which will mainly be in May.

I&M Bank and Standard Chartered, which are yet to release their results for the year, had contrasting fortunes at the market Monday. I&M gained 7.5 per cent to stand at Sh129 while StanChart was down 2.4 per cent to Sh331.

Equity Bank, which was trading ex-dividend having closed its books on a Sh1.80 per share payout last Friday, was the biggest loser among the bank stocks as it closed 3.4 per cent lower at Sh49.25 a share.

Other than I&M bank, only Eaagads and Uchumi saw gains of more than five per cent Monday, with the retailer up six per cent to Sh10.65 and the agriculture firm higher by 5.7 per cent to Sh39.

The leading losers were Williamson Tea, which closed 8.1 per cent lower at Sh261, and Kapchorua Tea which was lower by 7.8 per cent at Sh130.