Last month was a very tough month for the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) with more than Sh100 billion ($1.16 billion) wiped off investor-wealth.

According to  Kenya’s Business Daily, only two of the 20 blue chip companies listed on the NSE posted growth in market capitalisation.

Diamond Trust Bank gained 2.4 percent while CfC Stanbic posted 1,6 percent during the month.

The benchmark NSE 20-Share Index plunged 8.2 percent during the period reaching 4,598 index points, lower than the 5,006 the bourse recorded at the close of May.

Analysts told Business Daily, the market had been battered by profit taking and a response to the contraction of ‘fiscal stimulus” from the US government.

“The cautious approach by foreign investors especially culminated in the lowest foreign weekly inflows being recorded in the last week of June,” analysts said.

Foreign money inflows sagged to $1.65 million (Sh140.2 million) in the trading week of June 24-28.

This was a 77 percent plunge from the preceding week’s inflows of $7.05 million (Sh600 million).

“When international markets correct, investors will generally take a cautious view on all markets,” Business Daily quoted Kestrel Capital MD, Andre DeSimone, as saying.

It has emerged that the risk of capital gains tax in Kenya, which was proposed in the national budget added to the anxieties distressing investors.

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