Gains recorded as Nairobi bourse defies shocks of U.S. polls

Several top stocks at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) on Thursday defied the aftershocks of the U.S. elections to record gains in share prices and some key indices, although turnover remained subdued.

Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), Safaricom and Kenya Airways were among the 12 top stocks whose prices went up during the trading.

Safaricom, which was the day's biggest mover, traded 4 million shares at 0.20 U.S. dollars, a 2.5-percent rise from 7 million Wednesday.

KCB was the day's second best mover, trading 3.7 million shares at 0.28 dollars, a rise of 1 percent from the previous period.

On the other hand, Kenya Airways increased by 2.2 percent to trade at 0.07 dollars as it moved 2.1 million shares. On Wednesday, only three shares in the top 20 category recorded a rise in their prices.

The NSE 20 Share Index went up 8 points to stand at 3,246.47 due to the share price increases while the All Share Index (NASI) gained 1 percent to close at 139.89.

However, turnover at the bourse fell slightly to 19 million shares valued at 4.8 million dollars during the trading from 21 million shares valued at 5 million dollars Wednesday.

Foreign investors for the second day reduced activity at the bourse, as they accounted for 58 percent of total market turnover, down from 67 percent, although many of them (76 percent) bought more than they sold (40). Endit