Kenya's bourse indicative index falls below 3,600 points

Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) key index fell 91 points this week to close the five-day trading session below the 3,600 mark.

The benchmark 20 Share Index settled at 3,596.98 points Friday as the market ended the week on a low, with share prices continuing with downward trend.

The index has lost over 450 points since April and over 1,000 points compared to a similar period last year due to drop in share prices.

Some of the key stocks whose fall has eroded the index are leading telecom Safaricom, Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), Equity Bank, Diamond Trust Bank and East African Breweries Ltd.

The All Share Index (NASI), similarly, ended the week 2.71 points lower to stand at 138.30 points while NSE 25 Share Index dropped 97.94 points to settle at 3,886.94.

Friday's trading fell 74 percent to stand at 3 million U.S. dollars from 11 million dollars Thursday.

However, improved trading during the rest of the days saw week-on-week turnover rise to 31 million dollars on a volume of 124 million shares, against 27 million dollars on 90 million shares in the previous week.

Safaricom, in the telecommunication sector, during the week saw 48 million shares change hands at an average of 0.17 dollars to account for 38 percent of the week' s traded volume.

The banking sector moved 46 million shares with Equity Group Holdings being the most heavily traded during the week with 26 million shares.

Investors intensified trading at the bond market during the week as turnover rose to 83 million dollars, from 27 million dollars. Endit