By Reuters
Kenya's main share index fell for the seventh straight session to a four-week low, weighed down by profit taking after a post election rally, while the shilling was steady.
The benchmark NSE-20 share index fell 0.6 per cent to 4,839.49 points, a level last reached on March 27.
The index has declined about 4 per cent since
April 11, mainly due to investors taking profits following a 12 per cent
rally that followed a largely peaceful election. The index is still up
18 per cent so far this year.
"Pronounced selling pressure across the bourse has
pushed the index lower," said Ronald Lugalia, an analyst at Afrika
Investment Bank. "But the bear-run could be checked by investors
positioning for first quarter (company) results."
Nation Media Group, the region's leading media house, dropped a further 3.1 per cent to 278 shillings a share.
It has lost a third of its value since April 12 after going ex-dividend and shedding rights to a 1-for-5 bonus issue.
In the foreign exchange market, the shilling was
posted at 83.80/84.00 per dollar at the 1300 GMT close, barely changed
from Friday's close of 83.85/84.05.
Traders said they expected the local currency to gain from offshore investors buying into Treasury bonds on sale later this week.
"The biggest factor this week is the bond auction. A lot of dollar inflows are expected from that," said Sheikh Mehran, a senior trader at Kenya Commercial Bank.
"We saw some foreign sellers in the market from mid last week and we expect that to continue."
The central bank is scheduled to auction five-year and 15-year Treasury bonds worth up to 25 billion shillings ($298.3 million) on Wednesday.
Investors have piled into Kenyan assets in recent weeks after the country held a peaceful presidential election on March
4, a contrast to the previous poll five years ago that resulted in post-election violence after the results were disputed.
4, a contrast to the previous poll five years ago that resulted in post-election violence after the results were disputed.
Yields on government securities rose in the run-up to the vote because of concerns about a repeat of the unrest of 2008.
The shilling has firmed 2.7 per cent so far this year mainly due to the calm vote.
In the debt market, bonds worth 1.78 billion shillings were traded, slightly lower than Friday's from 1.79 billion shillings
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