Safaricom equity lifts Nairobi bourse trading 535 pct up

Some 35 million shares valued at 11 million U.S. dollars were traded at Nairobi Security Exchange Tuesday as turnover rose 535 percent boosted by robust trading of Safaricom and Equity Bank shares.

Leading telecom Safaricom moved 31.4 million shares at a high of 0.18 dollars accounting for 62 percent of traded volume.

The banking sector moved 14.5 million shares with Equity Bank being the most heavily traded counter moving 13 million shares at 0.36 dollars.

The energy and petroleum sector moved 1 million shares with Kenyan being the top mover at 0.11 dollars.

The NSE 20 share index continued its downward trend as the index lost 32 points to close at 3,532.98 while the NSE all share index rose to 1,137.