The National Social Security Fund incurred a Shs23 billion loss from the purchase of Safaricom shares, Daily Monitor has learnt.

The bears' reign at the Nigerian Stock Exchange continued yesterday with the performance indicators sliding further by 0.3 per cent.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) yesterday disclosed that stock brokers in the Nigerian capital market are indebted to various banks to the tune of about N180bn.

THE week opened on a sluggish note with only DFCU Bank trading on Tuesday at sh550 per share.

Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) turnover has improved in the third quarter after falling by 30 per cent in the second quarter of 2009.

Shareholders of Guinness Nigeria Plc, yesterday unanimously approved the N11.1 billion dividend declared by the Board of Directors of the company, even as they requested for a bonus issue.

ECOBANK Nigeria Plc has recovered a loan of N18.19 billion from its debtors after it scale through the audit of banks by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Housing, agriculture, construction and agro-processing are some of the sectors set to benefit from a Shs8.5 billion bond issued yesterday on the Uganda Stock Exchange by PTA Bank.

Carbacid Investments Limited made a come back to the stock market on Wednesday with a 73.5 per cent increase in its share price.

The parliamentary committee on national economy has endorsed a loan request for 137 billion shillings for the construction and rehabilitation of markets across the country.

MARKETS punished Illovo Sugar yesterday after it predicted flat earnings growth for this financial year, despite high sugar prices.

The down trend in activity on the Nigerian Stock Exchange persisted yesterday with the twin equity indicators-market capitalisation and all share index sliding by 1.9 per cent.

The East African Securities Exchanges Association (EASEA) has resolved to be proactive in developing and educating the regional masses.

Equity Market

Shareholders of BOC and Carbacid can once again trade in their stocks at the Nairobi Stock Exchange beginning Wednesday.

After much hype and fanfare, Bidvest Namibia, this week finally listed on the Namibia Stock Exchange (NSX) with the initial listing price of N$7.20.

Oando Plc., a Nigerian oil company, has applied to be lisited on the London Stock Exchange. It will be following the earlier move by Guaranty Trust Bank Plc., which was listed two years ago.

Activity on the Nigerian Stock Exchange resumed on a negative note when the market opened for transactions yesterday, with primary performance indicators recording a dip of 0.6 per cent each.

There are indications that stability of the capital market is not yet in sight. This is even as trading on equities for the first week in of November, 2009 opened yesterday with 38 companies recording losses out of the 61

THE mainstream industrial index last week declined 12,7 percent, the biggest fall since trades resumed in foreign currency in February.