Kenya’s main share index fell for the seventh straight session to a four-week low, weighed down by profit taking after a post election rally, while the shilling was steady.The benchmark NSE-20 share index fell 0.6 percent to 4,839.49 points, a level last reached on March 27. The index has declined about 4 percent since April 11, mainly due to investors taking profits following a 12 percent rally that followed a largely peaceful election. The index is still up 18 percent so far this year.“Pronounced selling pressure across the bourse has pushed the index lower,” said Ronald Lugalia, an analyst at Afrika Investment Bank. “But the bear-run could be checked by investors positioning for first quarter (company) results.”Nation Media Group, Kenya’s leading media house, dropped a further 3.1 percent to 278 shillings a share. It has lost a third of its value since April 12 after going ex-dividend and shedding rights to a 1-for-5 bonus issue. In the foreign exchange market, the shilling was posted at 83.80/84.00 per dollar at the 1300 GMT close, barely changed from Friday’s close of 83.85/84.05. Traders said they expected the local currency to gain from offshore investors buying into Treasury bonds on sale later this week.“The biggest factor this week is the bond auction. A lot of dollar inflows are expected from that,” said Sheikh Mehran, a senior trader at Kenya Commercial Bank.“We saw some foreign sellers in the market from mid last week and we expect that to continue.”
