Investors hold onto Safaricom shares as trading at Nairobi bourse drops

Expectations that Kenya's leading telecom Safaricom will rise to a new high at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) following its declaration of 380 million U.S. dollars full-year profit saw investors hold onto their shares Friday as overall trading fell.

Safaricom, usually the top mover, traded a paltry 746,600 shares, down from 1.1 million Thursday.

Its share price stood at slightly above 0.17 dollars Friday, which was 7 percent higher than a higher ago, an indication that the share might surpass its personal best of 0.18 dollars, making investors reap big.

Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Group was the top mover at the bourse Friday, with the firm trading 3.6 million shares at unchanged price of 0.41 dollars.

Equity Bank came third, moving 1.23 million shares at 0.40 dollars, a rise from 244,000 shares Thursday.

KCB, Equity Bank, East African Breweries Limited, Jubi¬lee and Safaricom accounted for 85 percent of the day's total turnover.

The NSE 20 Share Index was up 0.11 percent to close at 3,927.69, a high of 0.11 points in the five trading days.

The All Share Index (NASI) was up 0.18 percent to close the week at 146, while the NSE 25 Share Index was up 0.10 points to settle at 4,226.05.

Bond turnover was down 74 percent to close at 3 million dollars.