NSE 20 share index dips below 3,000 points as bear run hits

The continued bear run at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) came to the fore on Friday, with the NSE 20 share index falling below the 3,000 points level.

By the close of trading on Friday, the NSE 20 share index shed 168.11 points to close the day at 2,971.10 points.

This is the first time the NSE has been below 3,000 points in nine years.

The NSE 20 share index is a price weight index that measures the performance of the exchange’s 20 best counters.

Blue chip companies, which drive trading activity at the NSE, have over the past two weeks dipped leading to poor run at the exchange.

The continued weakening of the bourse performance carries over from 2016 when the market was in general decline.

Market capitalization fell to 1.79 trillion on Friday, from Thursday’s close of Sh1.806 trillion.

NSE 25 Share index also dropped 196.44 points during the week to settle at 3228.69

AG Capital Chief Executive Officer Amish Gupta said the market is headed into depression with investors bracing for tough times with most listed firms witnessing lower trading activity.

“If the market is weak and the dark clouds take over for the first three months of this year, I would start thinking the market is in a depression,” Mr Gupta said.

By the close of trading on Friday, the banking Sector had 20 million shares traded and accounted for 16.69 percent of the week’s traded volume.

KCB Group had 9.7 million shares traded during the week at between Sh26.50 and Sh28.00.

Equity Bank closed the week 10.43 percent lower to Sh25.75 while Cooperative Bank was down 6.92 percent to Sh12.10.

Safaricom was the week’s biggest mover with 83.6 million shares changing hands at between Sh17.80 and Sh18.80.

The shilling is also down this year, weakening 1.37 percent so far against the dollar according to Reuters data.