The Nairobi All Share ticked -0.40 points lower to close at 146.31. The Nairobi NSE20 fell 20.60 points to close at 3907.09.
Equity turnover remained lackadaisical at 255.045 million.
Commercial and Services
Safaricom firmed +0.29 per cent to close at a four-week high of 17.35 and traded 3.338 million shares. Safari com is 0.5 per cent below a 2016 closing high and just 2.8 per cent below an all-time intra day high of 17.85. The full-year earnings release was muscular and I expect Safaricom which is +6.44 per cent to post a fresh record closing high in due course.
Banks
Kenya Commercial Bank ticked -0.6 per cent easier to close at 41.50 and traded 332,700 shares. KCB is set to conduct a rights issue and this will cement its position at the apex of the tier-one bulge bracket banks. The news out of Chase Bank on Friday (signaling most banking services were now being provided) also confirms KCB has moved the dial effectively and with despatch.
Equity Bank eased back -0.6 per cent to close at 40.00 and transacted 1.137 million shares. I thought the first quarter earnings were ''shapely'' and deserving of a more positive price response.
CIC Insurance had a strong session rallying +4.807 per cent to close at 5.45 and traded 96,700 shares. Yesterday's rally narrowed the year-to-date loss to -12.096 per cent.
Industrial and Allied
Carbacid rallied +1.01 per cent to close at 15.00 and on heavy volume action of 3.067 million shares (1.203 per cent of the shares) worth 46.12 million. Carbacid previously reported a 14 per cent acceleration in first half turnover ''due to higher demand in local and export markets''.
EABL closed unchanged at 297.00 and traded 68,500 shares. EABL is +8.79 per cent in 2016 and I expect this out-performance to accelerate further through 2016.
KenGen eased -1.04 per cent to close at 7.05 which is a 10-week closing low. KenGen has retreated -11.875 per cent since announcing a two for one share held rights issue. My calculation is that everything is baked into the price and the price correction has probably run its course.
Mumias Sugar firmed +1.6875 per cent to close at 1.40. Raw sugar prices have been on a roll of late.