The securities exchange performed better having closed at 4072.50 up 18.71 points from Monday’s close. Today we maintain our focus on the banking sector, more specifically on Standard Chartered Bank, NIC Bank and Kenya Commercial Bank.

COUNTERS

• KCB – The share closed at KES 29.25, up from KES 28.75 the previous day. Share volumes traded however spiraled downwards with just over 300,000 shared changing ownership from 4.44 Million the previous day. Its current price represents the highest price the stock has traded at for the past 3 years. The share was ranked as top performer after constantly rising through the year from KES 17 to its current price. We shall be monitoring the share volume traded and the price to check if it shall continue with the upward trend.
• Standard Chartered Bank – There is an ongoing rights issue by the bank that is scheduled to end this Friday 26 October, 2012. The bank has experienced fluctuating demand for the currently listed shares and a rally that has seen the shares hit an all-year high of KES 223. The spread created by the fluctuating demand for the rights has yield prices as high as KES 89 and a low of KES 53. We shall keep an eye on demand as the rights issue comes to a close this week.
• NIC Bank – The share closed at KES 35.25 yesterday and saw over 72,000 shares traded up from 11,000 the previous day. Increased volumes can be attributed to the public listing of over 98 Million shares that the company introduced via a rights issue. We shall be looking out for any material movement that shall result from addition of shares and whether it will affect the pricing.