Power blackout costs Nairobi bourse millions in stock trade

Trading at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) was halted Tuesday for more than three hours after a power outage, resulting in low trade volumes.

The number of shares traded fell to 3,249,900 compared with 13,723,900 in the previous session underlining the impact of the blackout.

“This is due to a trading halt at the NSE that occurred from 11.50am and had not resumed by close of trading hours. The situation rose from a power outage that affected most parts of Nairobi,” said Sterling Research in a note to investors.

It was not clear why the exchange did not have backup power sources.

There were 409 transactions completed, worth Sh101 million, before trading was interrupted. This was a huge drop from 1,323 deals of Sh448 million done on Monday.

The indicative NSE 20-share index shed 20 points to close at 4064 points, being a 30-month low.

Investors have been exiting the equities market in favour of the fixed-income market following a spike in interest rates.

Counters in the agricultural segment did not record a single transaction. Cement maker ARM was the busiest counter in those morning hours with trading nearing a million shares at an average price of Sh39, Sh2 less the previous session’s price.

The power outage was attributed to a fault at Kenya Power’s Juja substation.