Foreign investors sustain buys at Nairobi bourse amid fall in turnover

Some 15 million shares valued at 3.4 million U.S. dollars were traded at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) Wednesday, down from 19 million worth 4.1 million dollars as foreign investors remained net buyers.

The investors, however, reduced their participation for the second day running to 58 percent, accounting for 70 percent of total buying vs 45 percent of total selling.

CFC Stanbic was the top foreign buy, moving a total of 1.3 million shares to close the day at an unchanged price of 0.70 dollars.

However, Safaricom was the day's top mover, trading 4.1 million shares for as high as 0.21 dollars, but mainly foreign sales.

Kengen, an electricity generator, came second moving a total of 2.6 million shares at 0.05 dollars out of the total 2.8 million shares traded in the sector.

Kenya Airways was the third top trader with 2.1 million shares exchanging hands at 0.05 dollars, which were the only shares moved in the commercial sector.

The banking sector had 4.3 million shares traded in total, with Cooperative Bank, which moved 1.5 million shares at 0.23 dollars, ending the day as the fourth top trader.

The NSE 20 Share Index was up 9.83 points to stand at 3,237.08 as various top stocks recorded marginal rises.

On the other hand, the All Share Index (NASI) gained 1.45 points to stand at 139.76 while the NSE 25 Share Index ended 32.95 points higher to stand at 3,680.85. Endit