Markets calm after presidential poll conclusion

The markets remained calm on Tuesday following the conclusion of the repeat presidential election.

At the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), the benchmark index rose 1.49 percent to close the day at 3729.62 points.

NSE chief executive officer said the markets had shown marked resilience in spite of the political noise, adding that share prices were bound to rise heading into 2018.

“Even with the run up to the repeat presidential election, investors were not actually getting out of the market. The low turnover just show that investors are still very confident about the market and I believe the fundamentals of the companies that are listed are very good, the Kenyan economy has very strong fundamentals and many are hopeful that the political process will be resolved and if that happens our markets will recover much faster,” Mr Odundo said in an interview with Citizen Digital.

The Nairobi all share index (NASI) also rose 1.17 percent to close at 161.99 points, data from the NSE showed.

The independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission on Monday declared President Uhru Kenyatta the winner of the fresh poll after opposition and NASA leader Raila Odinga pulled out of the race calling for a boycott of the election.

Investors had in September been thrown into panic selling of shares after the Supreme Court annulled the August 8 presidential election with market activity since stabilizing.

“The market has really been doing well. Before the elections (August) the markets rallied from May to August and even after election the markets rallied until September when it went down after the annulment ruling but since then, its holding well,” he said.

In the currency market the shilling closed at Sh103.70/90, compared to Monday’s close of Sh103.60/80.