Four counters hit 52-week high in first week of trade

Bamburi Cement, British American Tobacco (BAT), East African Breweries (EABL) and Safaricom shares hit new 52-week highs on the last day of trading in the first week of this year.

On Friday, the four counters closed at average prices of Sh194, Sh502, Sh274 and Sh5.25 from Sh190, Sh500, Sh267 and Sh5.15 respectively, the closing prices on Thursday.

Bamburi Cement shares hit a high of Sh195 during trading hours while BAT, which is currently the most expensive counter at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, hit a high of Sh502.

EABL hit a high of Sh280 whereas Safaricom which has been on a rally that began in the last quarter of last year, hit a new high of Sh5.35.

The NSE 20 Share Index – which tracks the prices of 20 select shares at the Nairobi bourse – closed at 4,191.05 points, having gone up 58.03 points while investor wealth or market capitalisation rose by Sh32.69 billion during the first week of trading in 2013.

KCB Group and Barclays Bank shares touched their previous 52-week highs of Sh31.50 and Sh16, and closed at Sh31 and Sh15.80 respectively while Athi River Mining which split its shares into five at the end of last year hit a new high of Sh50.

READ: Eye on ARM share price as cement maker splits stock

The first week of trading saw the prices of 38 counters go up, 11 remain the same while only eight registered declines.

The NSE All Share Index, FTSE 15 and FTSE 25 indices closed the week at 97.3, 128.57 and 131.53 points, compared to their close of 94.86, 125.75 and 128.46 points on the last day of trading last year.