Jubilee supporters in Eldoret celebrate Supreme Court’s Monday ruling that upheld President Uhuru Kenyatta’s repeat poll win. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA | NMG
Co-op and Safaricom stocks gain as shilling rises to the dollar for second day
All indices tracking the bourse turned up, with the benchmark NSE-20 rallying 1.02 per cent to close at 3817.77 points.
The shilling gained to trade at 103.25/45 against the dollar Tuesday, from Sh103.50/70 and Sh103.75/85 on Friday.
The value of shares at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) jumped Sh50 billion Tuesday as markets continued to react to the Supreme Court decision upholding President Uhuru Kenyatta’s win in last month’s repeat election.
The shilling also gained for a second day running in what traders attributed to reduced uncertainty over the political situation in the country that has plagued markets for most of the second half of this year.
The apex court on Monday dismissed two petitions that sought to annul President Kenyatta’s win in the October 26 election that was boycotted by the main Opposition candidate Raila Odinga.
The Supreme Court annulled the August 8 presidential election on technicalities, a move that sent markets tumbling after the shock verdict.
The shilling gained to trade at 103.25/45 against the dollar Tuesday, from Sh103.50/70 and Sh103.75/85 on Friday.
“Shareholder value went up by Sh50.7 billion depicting positive reaction by investors to the Supreme Court ruling,” Genghis Capital said in a market note.
“Foreign investors were overall net buyers in the session for the fourth session in a row.”
Shares rose
On Tuesday, most shares at the NSE rose, lifted by banking stocks led by Co-operative Bank #ticker:COOP.
All indices tracking the bourse turned up, with the benchmark NSE-20 rallying 1.02 per cent to close at 3817.77 points.
Turnover rose 18 per cent to Sh657 million with the number of shares traded at bourse up more than seven million to 27 million.
But the value of shares traded a day remains below the Sh1 billion level witnessed ahead of the August 8 vote.
Co-op Bank share, which was the most traded for the day, gained 4.63 per cent to close the day at Sh16.95 a share. It was the second-best gain for the day.
Telecom giant Safaricom #ticker:SCOM share also rose 3.88 per cent to Sh26.75 each, an all-time high last reached on August 29, two months before the Opposition party Nasa called for a boycott of its products on an allegation of failing to transmit results during the August 8 election.
Safaricom had slipped in days after the Nasa move but analysts attributed the fall to general market moves that had nothing to do with the boycott call.
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Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
