Kenya's bourse trading doubles on Safaricom's foreign buys

Kenya's leading telecom Safaricom Thursday moved 23 million shares out of the 41 million traded, up from 9 million Wednesday to lift Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) turnover to 7.7 million U.S. dollars.

Trading at the bourse had Wednesday declined to 3.7 million dollars after a total of 16 million shares were moved Thursday, while Safaricom share price dropped 0.6 percent to settle slightly above 0.17 dollars, the stock still attracted foreign buys responsible for the surge.

The energy and petroleum sector was the second best mover, trading 8.3 million shares that accounted for 20 percent of the day's traded volume.

Under the category, Kengen saw 4 million shares changing hands at a reduced price of 0.06 dollars. Ugandan electricity distributor Umeme Ltd actively moved 2.5 million shares to close at 0.17 dollars.

The banking sector recorded stifled trading as most stocks recorded a decline in prices. Some 2.2 million shares were traded in the category, with Kenya Commercial Bank Group trading a paltry 805,000 shares at an unchanged of 0.34 dollars.

Similarly, Equity Group Holdings closed some cents lower to stand at 0.39 dollars on a volume 290,000 shares.

The commercial and services sector moved 3.1 million shares, with national carrier Kenya Airways trading 3 million shares for 0.04 dollars.

Under the construction sector, some 1 million shares were moved, with Athi River Mining trading all at 0.32 dollars.

Thursday, there was no reprieve for the NSE 20 Share Index, which went down further 6.4 points to stand at 3,744.58.

The All Share Index (NASI) shed 0.83 points to settle at 144.33 and the NSE 25 Share Index dropped 22.02 points to settle at 4,077.79.

The bond market had securities worth 34 million dollars transacted, down from 48 million.