Kenya's Safaricom lifts bourse turnover amid decline in key indices

Equity turnover at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) rose Tuesday to 5.5 million U.S. dollars on a volume of 22 million shares from 16 million valued at 4.8 million dollars in the previous session, boosted by vibrant trading of Safaricom shares.

However, despite the improved trading, the NSE 20 Share Index's decline continued, going down 17 points Tuesday to stand at 3,249.63. On Monday, the index lost 16 points.

Similarly, the All Share Index eased down to 136.55 from 136.84 while the NSE 25 Share Index declined to stand at 3,606.53 from 3,626.64.

Safaricom, a leading telecom giant, was the top mover during the session, trading 15 million shares at 0.19 dollars, a decline of 0.3 percent, from the previous session's 6.3 million shares. Foreign investors sold as much as they bought the shares.

Equity Bank was the second top mover, trading 2.1 million shares mainly foreign sales, as it remained unchanged at 0.30 dollars.

KenolKobil, which gained 2 percent Tuesday to end Tuesday's trading session at 0.14 dollars, moved 1.7 million shares.

Only the three stocks moved more than a million shares, with the bourse continuing to experience a negative turn.

Kenya Airways and CIC insurance traded 902,100 and 444,900 shares at 0.06 dollars and 0.04 dollars respectively to complete the day's list of top five movers. Endit