Foreign Exchange Reserves
The usable foreign exchange reserves stood at USD 6,974 million (3.70 months of import cover). This falls short of CBK’s statutory requirement to endeavour to maintain at least 4.0 months of import cover as well as the EAC region’s convergence criteria of 4.5 months of import cover.
Currency
The Kenyan Shilling appreciated against the Dollar, the Sterling Pound and the Euro to exchange at KES 135.15, KES 172.35 and KES 147.31 respectively. The observed appreciation against the Dollar is attributed to the increased foreign inflows.
| Currency | YTD Change | W-o-W Change |
|---|---|---|
| Dollar | -13.91% | -5.36% |
| Sterling Pound | -13.76% | -5.42% |
| Euro | -15.17% | -5.37% |
Liquidity
Liquidity in the money markets increased, with the average inter-bank rate decreasing from 13.55% to 13.17%, as government payments more than offset tax remittances. Remittance inflows totalled $385.90 million in February 2024, a 6.43% decrease from $412.40 million in January 2024 and a 24.81% rise from $309.20 million in February 2023. Open market operations remained active.
| Liquidity | Week (previous) | Week (ending) |
|---|---|---|
| Interbank rate | 13.55% | 13.17% |
| Interbank volume (billion) | 20.54 | 29.85 |
| Commercial banks’ excess reserves (billion) | 20.00 | 16.10 |
Fixed Income
T-Bills
T-Bills were under-subscribed during the week, with the overall subscription rate decreasing to 93.47%, down from 174.24% recorded in the previous week. The 91-day T-Bill received the highest subscription rate at 351.40% while the 182-day T-Bill and 364-day T-Bill had subscription rates of 36.03% and 47.75% respectively. The acceptance rate decreased by 8.15% to close the week at 88.47%.
T-Bonds
In the secondary bond market, there was a lower demand for the week’s bond offers. Bond turnover decreased by 6.14%, from KES 36.24 billion in the previous week to KES 34.02 billion. Total bond deals decreased by 17.13% from 829 in the previous week to 687.
Eurobonds
In the international market, yields on Kenya’s Eurobonds decreased by an average of 0.04% compared to the previous week, 0.28% month-to-date and 0.60% year-to-date. The yields on the 10-year Eurobonds for Angola also declined while that of Zambia increased. Below is a summary analysis of performance for individual bonds.
| Bond | YTD Change | M-o-M Change | W-o-W Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 10-Year Issue | -0.92% | -0.39% | -0.15% |
| 2018 30-Year Issue | -0.18% | -0.23% | -0.07% |
| 2019 7-Year Issue | -1.42% | -0.30% | -0.05% |
| 2019 12-Year Issue | -0.36% | -0.23% | -0.02% |
| 2021 13-Year Issue | -0.02% | -0.21% | -0.00% |
| 2024 6-Year Issue | -0.69% | -0.30% | -0.03% |
Equities
NASI, NSE 20, NSE 25 and NSE 10 settled 7.29%, 5.25%, 7.02% and 7.88% higher compared to the previous week, bringing the year-to-date performance to 10.71%, 8.54%, 13.19% and 14.34% respectively. Market capitalization also gained 7.29% from the previous week to close at KES 1.59 trillion, recording a year-to-date increase of 10.71%. The performance was driven by gains recorded by large-cap stocks such as KCB, Standard Chartered, Co-operative and Safaricom of 15.94%, 12.62%, 11.07% and 9.35% respectively.
The Banking sector had shares worth KES 991M transacted which accounted for 36.15% of the week’s traded value, Manufacturing and Allied sector had shares worth KES 107M transacted which represented 3.92% and Safaricom, with shares worth KES 1.58B transacted represented 57.63% of the week’s traded value.
Top Gainers and Losers in the Equities Markets
| Top Gainers | YTD Change | W-o-W |
|---|---|---|
| KCB | 9.34% | 15.94% |
| StanChart | 14.20% | 12.62% |
| NBV | 0.41% | 12.27% |
| Standard Group | -20.41% | 12.00% |
| Coop Bank | 23.79% | 11.07% |
| Losers | YTD Change | W-o-W |
|---|---|---|
| Eveready | 1.69% | -8.40% |
| Sameer | -0.88% | -6.25% |
| EA Portland | 6.25% | -5.56% |
| Centum | 1.67% | -4.90% |
| Transcentury | -13.46% | -4.26% |
Alternative Investments
| Losers | Week (previous) | Week (ending) | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Derivatives Turnover (million) | 1.51 | 1.53 | 1.19% |
| Derivatives Contracts | 15.00 | 18.00 | 20.00% |
| I-REIT Turnover (million) | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| I-REIT deals | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
Global and Regional Markets
| Global Markets | YTD Change | W-o-W |
|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 | 7.89% | -0.13% |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) | 2.65% | -0.02% |
| FTSE 100 (FTSE) | 0.08% | 0.88% |
| STOXX Europe 600 | 5.49% | 0.31% |
| Shanghai Composite (SSEC) | 3.12% | 0.28% |
| MSCI Emerging Markets Index | 0.98% | -0.23% |
| MSCI World Index | 6.11% | -0.83% |
| Continental Markets | YTD Change | W-o-W |
|---|---|---|
| FTSE ASEA Pan African Index | -7.05% | 3.59% |
| JSE All Share | -3.85% | -0.93% |
| NSE All Share (NGSE) | 38.29% | 3.71% |
| DSEI (Tanzania) | 0.38% | 0.21% |
| ALSIUG (Uganda) | 10.35% | 3.53% |
The US stock market closed in the red zone, as investors digested the recent higher-than-expected inflation data and rising Treasury yields. The data dashed hopes for rate cuts, raising concerns that the Fed will keep rates higher for a longer period to combat inflation.
The European stock market closed the week in the green zone, fueled by strong earnings reports from retail and utilities companies, with investors preparing for the upcoming central bank meetings in major economies like the US, UK and Japan.
The Asian Stock Market closed the week in an upward trajectory, boosted by investor optimism following the People’s Bank of China’s (PBOC) policy decision to maintain key interest rates.
Week’s Highlights
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