A display of listed equities at the NSE Photo taken on August 1,2019. PHOTO | CITIZEN DIGITAL The stocks of Safaricom and the East African Breweries Limited (EABL) have led the rebound witnessed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) from the COVID-19 shocks registered earlier this year.
This is as local investors fill in the gap created by the continued exit of foreign investors from the domestic equities market over uncertainities created by the pandemic.
The share price of Safaricom has for instance risen by 19.5 percent to Ksh.29.10 as of Monday’s close from a low Ksh.24.35 at the height of market volatility in March.
EABL’s share price has meanwhile improved by 16.3 percent to Ksh.157.25 from a low Ksh.135.25.
Other large capped stocks have further boosted the the NSE preventing a deeper plunge in valuations over the second quarter of 2020.
Other notable gainers include British American Tobacco (BAT), the Co-operative Bank and Standard Chartered Bank Kenya (SCBK).
The gains by the highly valued stocked as eased the losses of the NSE leading indexes as the markets turnover rose by five percent during the first half of the year to Ksh.86.2 billion in comparison to Ksh.82.1 billion last year.
The Nairobi All share Index (NASI) for instance improved its performance in the year to date to 16.1 percent even as the NSE 20 and the NSE 25 remained in the bear territory having lost 26.7 percent and 21.5 percent of their values respectively.
Foreign investors remained net sellers for a consecutive quarter as they disposed off stocks worth Ksh.11.9 billion having let go of shares worth Ksh.11.2 billion through the first three months of the year.
Stocks at the NSE continue to represent entry points for investors as the market trades with a price to equity ratio of 8.1 times, 37.9 percent below the historical average of 13.1 times.
Investors have kept off the equities market to favour fixed income holdings as the Covid-19 pandemic remains a fluid situation.Video Of The Day: | BULLDOZERS FOR SANITIZERS | Families remain in the cold after evictions from Kariobangi sewage estate