Nairobi — The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) has extended the waiver of its fees on equity day trades to December 31.

The extension is aimed at boosting market activity and creating an opportunity for investors to enjoy higher liquidity.

The statutory fees accruing to the NSE on the second leg of a day trade were waived by 100 per cent for a period of 30 days in July.

All investors who currently have accounts at the Central Depository and Settlement Corporation Limited (CDSC) can now make several trades within a day, taking advantage of price changes, at a reduced cost.

"I urge retail investors to take advantage of this offer to increase portfolio returns," said Geoffrey Odundo, Chief Executive, NSE.

Since the launch of day trading in December 2021, the NSE has recorded a total turnover of Sh3.8billion in buy and sell of day trades, representing an average of 2.20 per cent of the monthly market activity.

The markets continue to regain momentum following the conclusion of the country's general election.

The NSE 20 share index has registered a 2.49 per cent increase this week, following the Supreme Court ruling.

As of Thursday, market capitalization stood at Sh2.2trilion.

"We are confident of bullish market performance in this last quarter, as the country recovers from cyclical economic downturns. Further, we are optimistic that new listings both in the main market segment and in the Unquoted Securities Platform (USP), which we continue to pursue, will come to fruition," said Odundo.

Day trading occurs when people buy and sell shares of the same security multiple times in a day. It enables traders to exit positions within the same day and only open positions proceed to settlement.

The current 0.114 per cent of levy charged on the second leg of day trading was previously discounted from 0.12 per cent to make day trading more attractive.