STOCK MARKET TURNOVER SLUMPS

The Nairobi Stock Exchange started off the week with a slump on the number of shares traded.

From the volume of 25 million shares moved last week at Sh530 million, this week started off with 13 million shares trading at Sh455 million. The financials saw Kenya Re move 4.9 million shares at between Sh15.50 and Sh17.50.

Equity Bank dipped seven shillings to close the day at Sh122 on a volume of 288,000 shares. KCB moved 1.9 million shares at between Sh26.25 and Sh27.50.

Plantations in the Agricultural sector moved 452,000 shares while Sasini moved 441,000 shares at between Sh18.50 and Sh19. Rea-vipingo went up twenty-five cents to Sh21 and traded 9,000 shares. In the Commercial and Services sector, Nation Media Group went up nine shillings to Sh268 selling 22,000 shares. AccessKenya also went up 4.3 per cent to Sh18.10 and traded 807,000 shares. Scangroup, on the other hand, had 225,000 shares trading at between Sh26 and Sh27.75.

Bond trading

Meanwhile, the Industrial and Allied sector had Mumias Sugar move 1.3 million shares at between Sh40 and Sh43.25 and East African Breweries up two shillings to Sh168 moved 298,000 shares. Express Ltd traded 5,000 shares at between Sh23.50 and Sh25. Bonds worth Sh552 million were traded in the bond market, compared to Sh202 million posted last week. The NSE 20 Share Index was up 16.04 points to settle at 5387.76.

In Europe, shares rose early on Monday for a fourth consecutive trading day as France’s Gaz de France and Suez announced a 90 billion euro ($122.9 billion) merger and hopes grew for a US rate cut. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.2 per cent at 1,537.7 points. Equity markets took heart last week from remarks from the Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke who pledged to limit the damage to the US economy from financial turmoil.

Reuters