Nairobi bourse key indices sustain gains on high foreign trading

The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) sustained gains Thursday as the indicative 20 Share Index and turnover surged, buoyed by an increase in foreign trading.

Turnover rose to 5.3 million U.S. dollars on a volume of 24 million shares from previous session's 17 million shares worth 4.4 million dollars.

The NSE 20 Share Index ended 11.29 points higher to stand at 3,283.77 as it gravitated towards the 3,000 mark. Similarly, the NSE 25 Share Index was up 0.06 points to stand at 3,709.91.

Safaricom, Kenya's leading telecom operator, was the top mover trading 8.1 million shares, mainly foreign sales that rose 19 percent, at unchanged price of 0.20 dollars.

The banking sector had 8.2 million shares traded which represented 34 percent of the day's traded volume. Equity Bank was the most heavily traded counter in the category, with 3.3 million shares changing hands at 0.32 dollars, mainly foreign sales.

In the insurance sector, some 2.2 million shares were moved, with CIC Insurance trading 2 million of the total and closed at 0.04 dollars.

The manufacturing sector moved 2.1 million shares, with 1.9 million of the volume belonging to Mumias Sugar Company. In the energy sector, Kenya Power traded at a high of 0.09 dollars to move 1.3 million shares.

At bond market, turnover declined sharply from 16 million dollars to 3.8 million dollars. Endit