Kenya Market Watch | May 18th 2015: Kenyan equities start on negative mood..

Nairobi, Kenya (Capital Markets in Africa):- The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE20) index went down by 48.39 points to close at 4,932.32 and Nairobi All Share Index fell by 0.25 points to close at 167.48. Likewise, the market capitalization fell by 0.25 percent to close at KES 2,342.1 billion.

The market breadth ended positive, with 14 gainers and 27 losers. On the one hand, the highest market gainer was Eveready surged 8.33 percent to close at KES 4.55 and volume recorded at 215,000, followed by Atlas Kenya Limited which rose by 6.35 percent to end the day at KES 11.70 and volume of 500.  Likewise, Trans-Century and Nation Media appreciated by 2.95 percent (to close at KES 13.95 and volume of 19,900) and 2.37 percent (to trade at KES 216.00 and volume recorded at 1,700) respectively.

On the other hand, Athi Rivers was the top loser, declining by 5.13 percent to close the day at KES 74.00 and volume at 3,400. Also, Carbacid Kenya went down by 4.75 percent to close at KES 19.05, Standard Chartered Bank Kenya declined by 4.69 percent to settle at KES 305.00 as well as Sasini plummeted by 4.33 percent with a closing price of KES 15.45 and volume recorded at 4,200.

Looking at market activities, the volume of shares traded declined by 55.40 percent to close at 16.93mn, total turnover shed off 49.36 percent to close at KES 960.25mn. Diamond Trust Bank was the largest mover of the day with a turnover of KES 353.15mn representing 36.78 percent of total market turnover. . It is followed by East African Breweries Kenya and then Safariom with KES 160.786 million and KES 129.42 million respectively.

On a final note, foreign buys stood at 67.85 percent of total turnover, while foreign sales stood at 73.93 percent of total turnover.