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EABL, Safaricom Push Kenyan Shares Up For Fifth Session
Investors walk out of the Nairobi Stock Exchange in Kenya's capital Nairobi, March 4, 2010. PHOTO BY REUTERS/Noor Khamis.
By Drazen Jorgic
10/09/2013
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's main share index inched higher for a fifth session in a row on Tuesday, led by the bourse's biggest companies by market capitalisation Safaricom and East Africa Breweries (EABL).
The benchmark NSE-20 share index rose 0.03 percent to 4722.91 points. The index has recovered after two weeks of falls as investors booked profits after companies' half-year results.
"It's mostly been large caps that have been driving the demand on the stock market," said Brenda Kithinji, research analyst at Standard Investment Bank, referring to Safaricom and EABL.
EABL has attracted foreign investor interest over the past week and Kenyan shares in general have rallied since the central bank held key interest rates at 8.5 percent last week.
"That was supportive for the stock market," added Kithinji.
Safaricom, which is 40 percent owned by Britain's Vodafone, closed 0.6 percent higher at 8.10 shillings, while EABL rose 1.4 percent to finish at 300 shillings.
The two companies account for about a third of the entire Nairobi bourse, with Safaricom shares alone making up 20 percent of the stock market's value.
In foreign exchange, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 87.50/60 at the 1300 GMT market close, marginally weaker on Monday's close of 87.40/50 to the dollar.
The shilling has moved little since the central bank kept rates on hold last Tuesday. Inflation is expected to keep rising after lawmakers widened the bracket of goods subject to value-added tax.
The bank absorbed 5 billion Kenyan shillings in excess liquidity using repurchase agreements (repos) on Tuesday.
In the secondary bond market, debt worth 2.8 billion shillings was traded, up from 1.62 billion on Monday.
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