Equity and KCB top movers as trading resumes at the bourse

Money Markets

An investor at the Nairobi Securities Exchange. PHOTO | FILE 

By GEORGE NGIGI

Business at the Nairobi Securities Exchange returned to normalcy Wednesday, with shares worth more than Sh1.7 billion traded.

Trading had been interrupted on Tuesday due to power outage at the Central Depository Settlement Corporation (CDSC), which is used as the clearing house for all transactions executed at the exchange.

Equity Bank and KCB were the top movers Wednesday, contributing 63 per cent of the market activity, with shares worth Sh568 million and Sh512 million traded respectively.

The banks are expected to declare their third quarter performance before the end of this month.

“Activity was dominated by foreign investors who accounted for 93 per cent of the market,” said Standard Investment Bank in its market report.

The CDSC attributed the Tuesday system closure to power surges that were experienced during the outage period, which interfered with the back-up generator system.

“We have expedited the procurement of additional UPS power backup that would support the systems for a period of eight hours in the absence or malfunction of the building generators. We target to have this in place by October 9,” said the corporation in a statement.

There were 1,729 transactions completed yesterday worth Sh1.7 billion compared to 409 deals done on Tuesday of Sh101 million, underlining the impact of the early closure.

The indicative NSE 20-share index gained marginally to close at 4071 points up from 4064 points on Tuesday.