Nairobi bourse trading drops to four-year low

Trading at Nairobi bourse hit four-year low this week as the market continued with its downward trend.

Key indices of the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) declined significantly, plunging to a level last seen in 2012 as investors continued to count losses.

Market data indicated that the NSE 20 Share Index closed the week at 4,101.67, down from 4,405.29. Similarly, the Nairobi All Share Index (NASI) ended the week at 140.18, a drop from 149.66 the previous week.

"The NASI and NSE 20 Share Index shed 9 percent and 8 percent respectively reaching levels last seen in 2012," said an analysis from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Saturday.

Equity turnover during the week, on the other hand, stood at 56.4 million U.S. dollars, down from over 58 million dollars.

Market capitalization, which measures shareholders' wealth, declined to 19.1 billion dollars from a high of 20.6 billion dollars last week, heaping losses on investors who have seen their investments declined by a record 6 billion dollars since April.

The FTSE NSE Kenya 15 Index and FTSE NSE Kenya 25 Index, which measure stock performance of 15 largest companies by market capitalization and 25 most liquid stocks at the NSE, this week closed the week 5.3 percent and 5.1 percent lower compared to the previous week.

As last week, the CBK attributed this week's plunge to depressed share prices. Last week, investors at Nairobi bourse lost over 480 million dollars as the index fell with the same margin.

Meanwhile, things were not any different at the bond market, with turnover declining by 40 percent to 30 million dollars from 42 million dollars last week, which the CBK attributed to overall low activities in capital markets. Endit