Nairobi bourse turnover declines on low foreign trading

Trading at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) dropped 88 percent Friday to 3.5 million U.S. dollars on a volume of 13 million shares, down from 27 million dollars on 130 million shares Thursday as foreign investors retreated.

Foreign investors had Thursday pushed the bourse to record its best trading day since January by moving 106 million shares of Safaricom, Kenya's leading telecom operator.

However, Friday, the telecom traded a paltry 1.5 million shares at unchanged price of 0.19 dollars, as foreign investors cut buys by 91 percent and sales by 95 percent.

Despite the low trading Friday, week-on-week turnover rose to 41 million U.S. dollars on a volume of 195 million shares from 16 million dollars on 76 million shares posted last week.

The NSE 20 Share Index ended the week up 4.51 points to close at 3,174.15, while the NSE All share Index (NASI) was up 0.67 points to close at 134.12.

The bond market recorded a 69-percent decline after it moved securities worth 2.9 million dollars, with investors seemingly moving away from the segment.