Gold price sparkles on NSE despite low activity

Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) trading floor. (Photo: Courtesy)

The newly launched gold-backed Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) on the Nairobi bourse has made a slow start despite a gain in price.

Daily data from Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) shows despite 900 units worth Sh1.1 million trading on the launch date, March 27, activities have been low as investors continue to understand the working of the ETF.

The market has not matched even a quarter (225 units) of the units sold on the debut day. Only March 28, the day after the launch, it came closer with a turnover of 200 units valued at Sh250,000.

All has been quiet on the ETF market segment for nine out of the 14 trading days since the launch. This means that most of the 400,000 units of the gold ETF valued at Sh500,000 is still up for grabs. On the week of launch, there was no activity in three out of the five trading sessions and so was the pattern in the second week running up to April 7.

Launched at a price of Sh1,250, the Barclays NewGold ETF, which is the seventh largest in the world, has recorded a gain in price. On the second week of trading, ETF inched up 1.45 per cent to settle at 1,253 moving 100 units valued at 125,300.

Despite this gain, all went quiet for the remainder of the week.