Trading at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) resumed on Monday after as investors reacted to the spread of the coronavirus and a crash in the price of oil last Friday.
Following the confirmation of Kenya’s first case of the corona virus, panic set in and investors made the indiscriminate sale of shares.
The NSE 20 share benchmark Index opened at 2128.45 representing a 0.175 percent increase above Friday’s close.
Geoffrey Odundo, the Chief Executive of NSE reassured of the Exchange’s commitment to its stakeholders to continuously inform the market and to maintain stability in the market as per the set trading rules.
“The market is open and we will continue to update the public on any new developments. We are hopeful that the market will stabilize but we continue to monitor and will advise the public on any developments,” he said.
“I urge investors not to panic and take advantage of these unprecedented stock discounts,” he added in a statement issued in Nairobi.
Temporary suspension of trading is an attempt to facilitate orderly transactions by giving investors time to think and see if they want to buy shares.
Kenya now has confirmed 3 cases of coronavirus.
JK/abj/APA