Stanchart, Kenya Airways (KQ) axed from NSE 20 Share Index

Standard Chartered Bank and Kenya Airways counters have been dropped from the Nairobi Securities Exchange's top 20 share index. In a statement, NSE said the two counters will now be replaced by Diamond Trust Bank and CIC Insurance Group.

Last year, the Stanchart share counter was the worst performing among the 11 listed banks. According to Standard Investment Bank analysis, the counter lost 41.8 per cent of its share price. The KQ counter has also been shedding off its value due to a series of negative corporate reports leading to erosion of price gains.

"In line with global best practice, the NSE has reviewed the constituent counters of the NSE 20 Share Index following the NSE board's approval. The market index is reviewed periodically to ensure it reflects an accurate picture of market performance," said the bourse in a statement.

The NSE 20 Share Index is a price weight index calculated as a mean of the top 20 best performing counters. Therefore, the constituent companies are selected based on a weighted market performance.