Bear run at bourse continues as hopes for better second half rise

The bear run at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) continued into the first week of 2016 with all the three indexes closing the week with low numbers.

The NSE 20 share index shed 2.5 per cent against the previous week’s average while the Nairobi All Share Index lost 0.3 per cent.

Last year, all stocks segments performed dismally with the NSE 20 share index losing 21 per cent while the Nairobi All Share Index shed 10.6 per cent year to date.

A new index introduced in October 2, the NSE 25 share index started off on bad footing losing 0.5 per cent in the last quarter of 2015.

Standard Investment Bank Researcher Eric Musau said the NSE is likely to pick up in the second quarter after most companies review their growth and give an outlook for the year.

“The full year numbers are likely to be disappointing and might dampen expectations. However, in the second half of the year, we are likely to have a stronger outlook,” he said.

Some of the stocks that lost most last year, bounced back in the first week of trading while the East African Breweries Limited (EABL) touched a four-month high of Sh288.00 mainly on foreign investor trading.

BIG LOSERS
“Longhorn, TransCentury and Atlas development, which were among the top losers in 2015, featured on the top gainers’ list,” Standard Investment Bank said in a brief to investors.

Atlas Development, Trans-Century and British American Investment Company (Britam) were the top losers in 2015 with reduced oil exploratory activities hurting demand for support services that led to closure of Atlas operations in Kenya.

Atlas reported a net loss of Sh1 billion during the year ending June, mainly attributed to cancelled and lack of new logistics service contracts for oil and gas companies operating in Kenya.

Britam suffered portfolio exposure to equities markets that under-performed in 2015 coupled with various strategic challenges.