Nairobi bourse key index rises as market recovers

Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) 20 Share Index climbed up 18 points Friday to close the week at 3,264.26, a new high in recent times.

The rise was a continuation from the previous day's gain as the market showed signs of weathering any effects of the U.S. polls.

In total, some 22 million shares valued at 4.9 million dollars were traded Friday, up from 19 million shares worth 4.8 million dollars Thursday.

Foreign investors for the third day reduced activity at the bourse, as they accounted for 57 percent of total market turnover, down from 58 percent.

Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) and Athi River were among the nine top 20 stocks that gained Friday by between 0.4 percent and 8.8 percent to lift the benchmark index.

Similarly, the All Share Index (NASI) gained about 1 point to close the week at 140.01 and the NSE 25 Share Index climbed up to 3,692.36.

Safaricom was the day's biggest mover, trading 8.7 million shares at unchanged price of 0.20 dollars, up from 4 million shares Thursday.

Athi River Mining was the second best mover with 3.5 million shares at 0.31 dollars after going up 8.8 percent.

KCB closed the top three day's best mover, trading 3 million shares at 0.29 dollars, a rise of 3.5 percent from the previous period.