Up to now the NSE has been driven by a combination of emotions primarily derived from the political theatre; economic fundamentals which are driven by rain or no rain and foreign interest which tends to be driven by how Western economies are performing.
- With the katiba referendum successfully out of the way, the only other chink in the political armour might be the ICC investigations, but I see those getting bogged down mainly because this GoK doesn't have the cojones to deal with impunity. Thus no nervous investors.
- Economic fundamentals: The structure of our economy is such that domestic demand plays the key role in the economy's outturn. Domestic demand is driven by disposable income and credit build-up. Disposable income is derived from income less taxation (which is fairly constant) less BAU spend. This BAU spend can be very volatile especially if prices of daily supplies go up. They did in 2008 and the NSE tanked. Once it started raining, Kenyans could spend more on investing and savings. More importantly manufacturers could see returns on their investments, thus economy starting growing again. Should rains continue in later 2010 and early 2011, NSE will search 5300 by March 2011.
- Western economies: Are set for a low growth until 2012 at least. This maybe to NSE's advantage as many fund managers such for alpha will have to go beyond over-priced commodities and buying bonds from heavily indebted sovereigns.
- IPOs: This is not really a driver but tends to be a firm signal that the NSE is buoyant and on the up. So far, KenGen's OSF, NSE IPO, the IPo by the baker, NBK's OSF have all been talked about but not delivered. By my reckoning, the NSE needs 75 counters to really catch the imagination of joeblogg type of Western funds. Nobody wants to pay a P/E of 15+ and having a few more counters will drive P/Es to attractive levels.
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