Equity gains 5pc buoyed by demand from local investors

Equity Bank stock has this week rallied to gain nearly five per cent at Sh48, as it recovers from a slide to an eight-month low seen last week. The retailer has consequently risen Sh7 billion in value.

Analysts said the counter has been attracting demand this week, more so from local investors, helping to balance out the foreign investors who have been heavy on the selling side.

“Investor activity on Equity Group Holdings is imparting a recovery from last week’s fall to Sh46,” said Genghis Capital in a market report.

Equity’s decline had been attributed to investor concerns over the lender’s plan to expand its footprint in the region to 10 countries, weighed against the returns the bank is making from such subsidiaries.

However, the concern seems to have abated over the past three trading sessions where the bank has been one of the top movers in the market, an indication of the healthy demand for its shares.

READ: Equity's returns on funds for shareholders seen falling

In Wednesday trading, Equity saw 1.4 million shares worth Sh67 million traded.

The lender has now seen its market capitalisation rise to Sh177.7 billion from the Sh170.3 billion last week.

During the session, the market traded 16 million shares valued at Sh654 million, down from 18 million shares worth Sh676 million traded on Tuesday.

The NSE 20 Share Index ended 31 points lower to stand at 5042.85, representing the lowest mark for this year.

The bourse was hurt by declines in the share prices of index constituent stocks of EABL, Safaricom and Britam.

The brewer shed 2.7 per cent or Sh9 to close the day at Sh320. The counter dominated turnover on Wednesday, with 785,400 shares worth Sh251.3 million changing hands.

Britam shed nine per cent to close at Sh20.25 while Safaricom was down 0.9 per cent to close the day at Sh17.05 on profit taking.

Other top decliners on Wednesday included East African Portland Cement Company which closed 8.4 per cent lower at Sh54.50 and Kapchorua Tea which was down 7.8 per cent at Sh130.

Both counters however traded on thin volumes of 1,100 and 100 shares respectively.

Top gainers included BAT, Crown Paints and Transcentury Ltd. Crown was the day’s top gainer at 8.9 per cent to close the day at Sh110.

BAT was up six per cent, or Sh44, to close the day at Sh772, while Transcentury gained 5.7 per cent to close at Sh17.65.