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NSE halts trading for 15 mins

NAIROBI, October 8 – The Nairobi Stock Exchange on Wednesday halted trading for 15 minutes when the index went down by more than five percent.

The NSE 20 Share Index closed at 4090.69 points Tuesday and went down to 3965.41 points in mid-session, Wednesday, losing a staggering 125.28 points before the shutdown.

“The market halt was done in accordance to the NSE Trading Rules which states that trading can be halted by the Exchange during the pre-opening and continuous trading session, when the Index decreases by more than five percent at the opening session compared to its closing value or during the continuous session compared to its opening value,” a statement sent to newsrooms, Wednesday evening explained.

It said the halt will not be for more than 15 minutes. This drop in index value is not a situation peculiar to the Nairobi Stock Exchange but a global phenomenon in both the developing and emerging markets, said the statement signed by the NSE Chief Executive, Chris Mwebesa.

Mr Mwebesa said: “All major markets recorded losses, Wednesday, with the London FTSE 100 index losing 6.8 percent, China’s CSI 300 Index losing 5.1 percent and Tokyo’s Nikkei Index losing over nine percent of its value.”

He maintained that the Kenyan bourse remains robust and the market fundamentals remain solid.

The NSE 20 Share Index settled at 3979.12 by the close of trade on Wednesday going below the 4,000 point-mark.

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As prices went down, the Safaricom share lost 10 percent to trade Sh4.05 cents moved 15 million shares. Also in the commercials, Kenya Airways traded 176,000 shares at between Sh39.50 and Sh42.

KCB fluctuated at between Sh23.25 and Sh25 on a volume of 2.5 million shares in the Financials while Equity Bank was down six shillings to Sh199 trading 155,000 shares.

Industrial sector saw Mumias Sugar selling 1.9 million shares at between Sh7.50 and Sh8.45.

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