Dollar investors in regional stockmarkets have registered a drop in their earnings as local investors enjoyed a marginal increase.

In the first five months of the year, the market’s performance remained fairly flat with a 1.72 per cent year to date average return for local investors, and an average drop of 7.9 per cent for dollar investors.

The Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange is still the best performer in the region, with a 7.76 per cent appreciation so far this year. The Nairobi Securities Exchange recorded a 7.3 per cent increase, even though there was a decline of 0.47 per cent on the year to date performance for local investors.

READ: Dar stock exchange ranked Africa’s 2014 top performer

The Uganda Securities Exchange appreciated by 3.76 per cent while the Rwanda Stock Exchange saw a 5.47 per cent increase.

DSE chief executive Moremi Marwa said the year-on-year growth in domestic market capitalisation was 64 per cent for the total market, and 36 per cent for indices.

“This was a result of the good performance of the listed companies, and a positive investor outlook,” Mr Marwa said. “The good dividend payments were also a factor.”

Equity market capitalisation at the NSE fell  by 0.87 per cent  to Ksh2.27 trillion ($22.62 billion) by close of trading last week, from Ksh2.29 trillion ($22.82 billion)  by the end of December 2014.

The domestic market capitalisation of the DSE increased from $4.2 billion at end of 2014, to $4.35 billion by the end of the first quarter of 2015. Its total market capitalisation also increased to $9.89 billion, up from $9.68 billion, and its turnover rose to $125.4 million from $17.9 million in April 2014.

Swissport was one of the best performing counters with a 43.5 per cent increase on year to date growth, and a 67 per cent return on investment. CRDB Bank gained 5.4 per cent with a 21.68 per cent return on investment.

Other counters that have gained include Tanzania Cement Company and National Microfinance Bank with a 27 per cent return on investment each.

The market turnover at the NSE was $506.81 million in the first quarter; the NSE 20 Index was up 2.7 per cent in the first quarter compared with the same period last year.

Despite the appreciation, the Nairobi Securities Exchange 20 Share Index fell by 6.3 per cent, from 5117.43 at the start of the year to 4,786.74 in June. The first quarter also saw a net foreign outflow of $34.6 million, attributed to the depreciating shilling, the capital gains tax and investors reorganising their portfolios as they seek returns in other African markets.

Analysts at StratLink Africa said the Kenyan market has resumed its downward trend after a slight rally.

“We assess that investors are adjusting their positions in select counters that have witnessed a rise in price in the recent past,” the analysts said in the June research note.

In terms of forex adjusted returns on the dollar, the RSE fared better than Kenya and Uganda. Rwanda had a drop of 5.6 per cent, followed by the NSE at 7.7 per cent; USE had a negative 7.9 per cent. Tanzania had the biggest drop in returns, with 10.3 per cent.

“The negative return for foreign investors was due to the depreciation of most regional currencies against the dollar during the period under review. Most of these investors are adjusting their portfolios so that they do not incur more losses from currency depreciations,” said Daniel Kuyoh, a financial analyst with Kingdom Securities.

Some of the top gainers in the first quarter included Safaricom with a year to date appreciation of 12.8 per cent, and Crown Paints with 45 per cent growth; the biggest losing counters were TransCentury, shedding 32.8 per cent, and Nation Media Group losing 25.9 per cent.

The USE All Share Index increased from 1940.77 points at the start of the year, to 2016.00 points by June 2015. The market capitalisation increased to $9.8 billion at the end of May.

The best performing stocks included Umeme, Stanbic Bank Uganda and National Insurance Corporation. Uchumi has dropped 7.9 per cent in the past five months.

“The poor performance of the Ugandan equity market can be attributed to the falling shilling, which has seen foreign investors become net sellers. We hope that the rise in the interest rates will make the market attractive to the portfolio investors,” an analyst at Uganda’s Crested Capital said.

The Rwanda All Share Index (ALSI) has appreciated from 138 points to 146 points in the past five months.

The market capitalisation currently stands at $3.89 billion. Counters that have appreciated are the Bank of Kigali and Bralirwa, with 8.2 per cent and 3 per cent respectively.

Chief executive of the Rwanda Stock Exchange Celestin Rwabukumba said domestic investors dominated a greater portion of the market, even though the entry of Equity Bank brought a surge in regional investors.

“Last year we saw more than 70 per cent of the market dominated by Rwandans. We are now seeing more foreign investors coming in even though the numbers are still in single digits,” Mr Rwabukumba said.