Coronavirus: Nairobi Stock Exchange suspends trading as stocks plunge

The Nairobi Stocks Exchange suspended trading on Friday afternoon as markets fell hard following the confirmation of Kenya’s first ever coronavirus case.

“The NSE wishes to notify market participants, investors, key stakeholders and general public that trading at the NSE was halted on Friday 13, March 2020 at 2:38 p.m as per the provisions of Rule 9.4.1 (ii) of the NSE Equity Trading Rules,” read a statement.

The rule states “when the NSE 20 Share Index decreases by more than 5% at the opening session compared to its closing value or during the continuous session, compared to its opening value, the Exchange may temporarily halt trading for not more than 30 minutes.”

NSE also assured traders that normal market activity will resume on Monday 16, March 2020.

The Kenyan Government confirmed the first case of coronavirus in the country on Friday.

Health CS Mutahi Kagwe revealed that the patient is a woman who travelled from the U.S. to Nairobi through London.

“The case was confirmed yesterday (Thursday). She was confirmed positive by the National Influenza Lab,” he said.