Trading remains vibrant despite NSE ‘technical hitch’

EQUITIES: Last week in the stock market, trading remained vibrant, with 28 counters edging up, against 21 that declined.

The NSE 20 Share Index rose by 54.06 points, a 1.1 per cent week on week gain, to close at 4,990.0 points. The NASI edged up 2.81 points to close the week at 133.9 points.

Equity turnover declined by 36 per cent to Sh2.8 billion for the week, with a total of 8,210 deals taking place.

The volume of shares transacted for the week stood at 104 million, a 37.4 per cent rise from the previous week’s session, while market capitalisation was up 2.1 per cent.

Centum Investments was the week’s top gainer, edging up 17 per cent to close the week at Sh32.75. Portland Cement gained 12 per cent during the week to close at Sh74.50.

Eveready East Africa was the week’s biggest loser, shedding 8.8 per cent on a volume of 199,000 shares. The counter closed the week at Sh2.60

Home Afrika was down 6.3 per cent, which was attributed to profit taking. The counter closed the week at Sh7.40. Standard Group shed 6 per cent to close the week at Sh27.25.

Banking: The sector had 37 million shares traded, which was 35.56 per cent of the week’s traded volume. KCB touched a high of Sh50.00 and low of Sh48.00 on a volume of 10 million shares. Equity Bank was up 2.14 per cent to Sh35.75 and moved 15 million shares.

Commercial & Services: The sector moved 4.4 million shares, which accounted for 4.23 per cent of the week’s traded volume. Kenya Airways closed the week 0.48 per cent higher to Sh10.50 on a volume of 800,000 shares. Uchumi Supermarkets moved 2.4 million shares and closed at Sh21.50.

Energy & Petroleum: The sector moved 5.1 million shares, which accounted for 4.92 per cent of the week’s traded volume. KenGen moved 2.3 million shares at between Sh16.60 and Sh17.50.   

Manufacturing & Allied: The sector moved 4.5 million shares, which represented 4.32 per cent of the week’s traded volume. Mumias Sugar was the most heavily traded counter in this sector, with 2.6 million shares changing hands at between Sh3.35 and Sh3.65. East African Breweries moved 1.3 million shares and closed at Sh320.00.

The NSE 20 has had a return of 20.7 per cent year to date, while the NASI is up 41.1 per cent year to date.

BONDS: The bond market recovered from a low performance the previous week to record Sh14.36 billion in bond turnover, an increase of 228 per cent.

Last week, CBK offered 91-day Treasury Bills for a total of Sh2 billion. The total number of bids received was 199, amounting to Sh3.11 billion, representing a subscription of 155 per cent. The market weighted average rate was 10.210 per cent, and the weighted average of accepted bids which will be applied for non-competitive bids was 9.984 per cent, up from 9.943 per cent in the previous auction.

CBK also offered 182 and 364-day Treasury Bills for a total of Sh5 billion. The number of bids received was 72 amounting to Sh3.79 billion — a 152 per cent subscription — and 57 bids amounting to Sh1.93 billion — a 77 per cent subscription — for 182 and 364-day T-Bills, respectively. The weighted average rate of accepted bids, which will be applied for non-competitive bids, was 10.502 percent for the 182-day and 10.953 per cent for 364-day T-Bills.

THIS WEEK: Banking sector stocks will be on the radar this week. We expect Quarter 3 results to continue to be announced.

Source; ABC Capital

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