NSE Bounces Back Amid Election Jitters

The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) has recovered from the uncertainties caused by the disputed Presidential Election Results, gaining Ksh.3 billion on Tuesday. 

Tuesday’s trading session was the first since the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission announced poll results on Monday evening (IEBC). 

Investor wealth or market capitalization increased during the day to Ksh.2.294 trillion from Ksh.2.292 trillion on Monday.

The NSE’s consistent performance went against investor expectations, who saw disagreements over Presidential Election results as a harbinger of a protracted electioneering phase. 

The NSE had already fallen due to jitters in the run-up to the August 9 General Election, with international investors, for example, selling up their local equity holdings. 

Despite this, Tuesday’s equity turnover was Ksh.194.8 million, down from Ksh.222.3 million on Monday.

This as the number of shares traded fell to 7.5 million from 9.1 million previously.

Similarly, NSE indexes registered mixed performances, with the NSE 20 index for instance declining by 8.92 points as the all-share index (NASI) and NSE 25 gained by 0.18 and 12.46 points respectively.

The total number of equity deals closed was nevertheless up at, 1068 from 831 previously.

Safaricon was the top trading counter, moving shares a combined 2.4 million shares for Ksh.31.10 a piece, ahead of Equity (1.2 million shares) and Standard Chartered Bank Kenya (0.1 million shares).

Top gainers on the day were Standard Group Limited, Total, Liberty and Britam.

Market laggards meanwhile included ScanGroup, Kenya Power and Carbacid.