by Bedah Mengo
NAIROBI, July 7 (Xinhua) -- A decline in local investors' participation at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) on Friday saw equity turnover record massive drop.
The bourse on Thursday recorded its best trading day since January as turnover hit 32 million U.S. dollars on a volume of 90 million shares boosted by increased local investors trading, which stood at 88 percent.
But Friday, the market transacted 44.4 million shares worth 9.5 million dollars, with the Friday session mainly dominated by foreign investors whose participation stood at 74 percent.
Safaricom, Cooperative Bank, Kenya Commercial Bank, Umeme and Standard Chartered Bank were the top five traded stocks as they accounted 93 percent of the total turnover. The stocks traded 25 million, 7.1 million, 5.4 million, 2.6 million and 500,000 shares respectively.
The NSE 20 Share Index was up 23.54 points, sustaining an upward trajectory to end the week at 3,604.06. It is the first time in about two weeks that the benchmark index has once again crossed above the 3,600 mark.
On the other hand, the NSE All Share Index was up 0.74 points to close at 152.24 points.
At the secondary bond market, turnover further decreased 17 percent to stand at 11 million dollars from 17 million dollars in the previous session. Turnover had fallen 48 percent on Thursday.
