Nairobi Exchange Tanks, Absa, StanChart Drag Banking Index

Nairobi Exchange Tanks, Absa, StanChart Drag Banking Index

The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (ASI) tanked on Monday amid selloffs in Flame Tree, Absa, Standard Chartered, Nation Media, and Coop Bank.

Equity prices shed 0.8%, largely driven by NSE 10 counters, which sank 1.2%.  The Kenyan bourse experienced significant volatility last week amid weak investor sentiment, with the banking index ranking among the top losers.

The downbeat sentiment persisted today with losses in Flame Tree (10%), Absa (6,7%), StanChart (6.7%), Nation Media (5.7%) and Coop Bank (5.6%).  NSE 20 and NSE 25 counters dropped by 1.2% and 1.1% respectively, while banks contracted by 1.9% on average.

Shares traded fell by 2.0% from 17.86 million to 17.50 million shares, constituting a 12.8% drop in the day’s turnover to KES 737.70 million from KES 845.58 million.

BK Group was the day’s top mover with a turnover of KES 388.87Million, followed by Equity Group and KCB Group with KES 121.09Million and KES 42.01Million in turnover, respectively.

Foreign activity rose to 72.8% with a net foreign inflow of KES 17.71 million. Jubilee Holdings experienced a net foreign inflow, while KCB Group and Equity Group had net foreign outflows.

Secondary bonds’ turnover shrank by 41.5% from KES 6.42Bn to KES 3.76Bn as the number of deals dropped from 221 to 110. FXD2/2019/10yr was the most traded, with a turnover of KES 800.0 million.

The Central Bank of Kenya reopened three papers for the month of May, FXD1/2012/020(6.6-years, 12.000% coupon), FXD1/2019/020(13-years, 12.873% coupon), and FXD1/2021/025(20.1-years, 13.924% coupon), targeting KES 80.0 billion from the market.

In addition, CBK announced a Switch of KES 10.00 billion from FXD1/2017/010 (1.2 years, 12.966% coupon) maturing on 19th July 2027 to FXD1/2021/020 (15.22 years, 13.444% coupon). GameStop Offers $55.5 billion to Acquire eBay