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Macroeconomic News
UPDATE 1-Kenya shares drop more than 1 pct, shilling up
Mon, 19th Mar 2012 15:40
By Beatrice Gachenge and George Obulutsa
NAIROBI, March 19 (Reuters) - Kenyan shares fel
percent on Monday, dragged down by losses in shares of Equity
Bank and national carrier Kenya Airways,
while the shilling firmed 0.5 percent against the dollar.
The Nairobi Securities Exchange's main NSE-20 Index
slid to 3,317.62 points as Equity Bank closed 6.5 percent lower
at 17.30 shillings a share, weighed on by profit-taking.
Kenya Airways, which touched a 7-1/2 year low during the
session, closed down 1.3 percent at 14.95 shillings a share
after hitting a low of 14.75 shillings earlier in the session, a
level last seen in October 2004 when it traded at 14.00
shillings, Thomson Reuters data showed.
Traders attributed the fall to a $250 million cash call,
which opens on April 2, with the offer priced at 14 shillings
per share.
'On Equity it's profit-taking, and KQ (Kenya Airways) it's
purely rights (issue),' said George Bodo, an analyst at Apex
Africa.
'I think it (Kenya Airways) probably will be approaching
the pricing of the rights pricing level. There could be a lot of
selling pressure which could be short-lived. I think it will be
temporary.'
In the currency market, commercial banks posted the shilling
at 82.50/82.70 per dollar at the 1300 GMT close of trade, up 0.5
percent from Friday's close of 83.00/20.
Traders said exporters had been converting their dollar
earnings into shillings, thus boosting the local currency, and
they predicted it would get further support from the debt
market.
'Offshore interest in government securities with the
one-year bond sale, will help the shilling strengthen,' said
Sameer Lagadia, head of trading at Diamond Trust Bank.
High yields on government debt in the region's biggest
economy have helped to prop up the shilling, which is up 3.1
percent against the dollar so far this year.
Heavy demand is expected to help to lower rates on a
one-year Treasury bond to be auctioned on Tuesday. The Central
Bank of Kenya plans to offer 10 billion shillings ($120.1
million) worth of the security, whose coupon will be determined
by the market.
Later in the week, the central bank will sell 91- and
182-day Treasury bills worth 7 billion shillings.
Some traders said a liquidity squeeze due to quarterly tax
payments by corporations, was also offering support to the
currency. Commercial banks were also trimming dollar positions
to make that shilling commitment to clients.
In the secondary bond market, government and corporate bonds
worth 2.28 billion shillings were traded in Monday's session,
down from 2.42 billion shillings traded previously.
...........................Shilling spot rates
.....................Shilling forward rates
.......................Cross rates
..................................Local contributors
.......................Central Bank of Kenya Index
.....................Kenyan Bonds contributor pages
...............Treasury bill yields
..................Central bank open market operations
.........................Horizontal repo transactions
,................Daily interbank lending rate
.............................Kenya Bond pricing
..................Real time Africa economic data
...........................African economic news
.................................NSE-20 Share Index
.................................NSE All Share Index
...........................FT NSE Kenya 15 Index
.......................... FT NSE Kenya 25 Index
SPEED GUIDES:
($1 = 83.2500 Kenyan shillings)
(Editing by Yara Bayoumy; editing by Stephen Nisbet)
Keywords: KENYA MARKETS/
(nairobi.newsroom@reuters.com)(Tel: +254 20 2224717)
COPYRIGHT
Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. All rights reserved.
The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
NAIROBI, March 19 (Reuters) - Kenyan shares fel
l 1.33
percent on Monday, dragged down by losses in shares of Equity
Bank and national carrier Kenya Airways,
while the shilling firmed 0.5 percent against the dollar.
The Nairobi Securities Exchange's main NSE-20 Index
slid to 3,317.62 points as Equity Bank closed 6.5 percent lower
at 17.30 shillings a share, weighed on by profit-taking.
Kenya Airways, which touched a 7-1/2 year low during the
session, closed down 1.3 percent at 14.95 shillings a share
after hitting a low of 14.75 shillings earlier in the session, a
level last seen in October 2004 when it traded at 14.00
shillings, Thomson Reuters data showed.
Traders attributed the fall to a $250 million cash call,
which opens on April 2, with the offer priced at 14 shillings
per share.
'On Equity it's profit-taking, and KQ (Kenya Airways) it's
purely rights (issue),' said George Bodo, an analyst at Apex
Africa.
'I think it (Kenya Airways) probably will be approaching
the pricing of the rights pricing level. There could be a lot of
selling pressure which could be short-lived. I think it will be
temporary.'
In the currency market, commercial banks posted the shilling
at 82.50/82.70 per dollar at the 1300 GMT close of trade, up 0.5
percent from Friday's close of 83.00/20.
Traders said exporters had been converting their dollar
earnings into shillings, thus boosting the local currency, and
they predicted it would get further support from the debt
market.
'Offshore interest in government securities with the
one-year bond sale, will help the shilling strengthen,' said
Sameer Lagadia, head of trading at Diamond Trust Bank.
High yields on government debt in the region's biggest
economy have helped to prop up the shilling, which is up 3.1
percent against the dollar so far this year.
Heavy demand is expected to help to lower rates on a
one-year Treasury bond to be auctioned on Tuesday. The Central
Bank of Kenya plans to offer 10 billion shillings ($120.1
million) worth of the security, whose coupon will be determined
by the market.
Later in the week, the central bank will sell 91- and
182-day Treasury bills worth 7 billion shillings.
Some traders said a liquidity squeeze due to quarterly tax
payments by corporations, was also offering support to the
currency. Commercial banks were also trimming dollar positions
to make that shilling commitment to clients.
In the secondary bond market, government and corporate bonds
worth 2.28 billion shillings were traded in Monday's session,
down from 2.42 billion shillings traded previously.
...........................Shilling spot rates
.....................Shilling forward rates
.......................Cross rates
..................................Local contributors
.......................Central Bank of Kenya Index
.....................Kenyan Bonds contributor pages
...............Treasury bill yields
..................Central bank open market operations
.........................Horizontal repo transactions
,................Daily interbank lending rate
.............................Kenya Bond pricing
..................Real time Africa economic data
...........................African economic news
.................................NSE-20 Share Index
.................................NSE All Share Index
...........................FT NSE Kenya 15 Index
.......................... FT NSE Kenya 25 Index
SPEED GUIDES:
($1 = 83.2500 Kenyan shillings)
(Editing by Yara Bayoumy; editing by Stephen Nisbet)
Keywords: KENYA MARKETS/
(nairobi.newsroom@reuters.com)(Tel: +254 20 2224717)
COPYRIGHT
Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. All rights reserved.
The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
