The NSE-20 Share Index shed 44.67 points, or 1.09 per cent, to close at 4,069.34, mirroring a similar drop in capital gains for investors on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) on average.
The stock market Wednesday dipped marginally after rallying to a 23-month high largely due to profit-taking on the banking counters.
The indicative NSE-20 Share Index shed 44.67 points, or 1.09 per cent, to close at 4,069.34, mirroring a similar drop in capital gains for investors on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) on average.
“I think we had a very violent move higher, more than six per cent from August 7. It was natural for little bit of profit taking to set in,” investment analyst Aly-khan Satchu said.
“It (profit-taking) was in some big banking stocks that had rallied a lot, and there was some bit of profit taking.”
The value of shares traded, however, rose to Sh1.1 billion from Sh842 million on Tuesday, with Safaricom and KCB Group dominating trade.
Safaricom was the biggest mover, transacting 14 million, or 30.75 per cent, of the 46.8 million shares that changed hands on the NSE Wednesday. The giant telco, however, lost 2.02 per cent on its share to close trade Sh24.25.
KCB Group transacted 4.5 million shares at an average price of Sh44.75 per unit, down from Tuesday’s close Sh45.25 and accounted 36.49 per cent of the Sh559 million worth of banking stocks which traded on Wednesday.
“Investors have rushed in to take positions before the (stock market) bull run gathers momentum. There are investors who bought shares in the last year or two when prices were low and they have come now to take their profit on increased share prices,” Sterling Capital executive director John Kirimi said on phone.
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