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EFFECT OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES VOLATILITY ON SHARE PRICES OF LISTED FIRMS IN KENYA

European Journal of Economic and Financial Research

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Title EFFECT OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES VOLATILITY ON SHARE PRICES OF LISTED FIRMS IN KENYA
 
Creator Muigai, Robert Gitau
Cherono, Irene
 
Subject derivatives market, foreign exchange rates volatility, share prices
 
Description Since 1993 when the floating exchange rate regime was established in Kenya, the country has experienced tumultuous times regarding fluctuations in exchange rates. This continuous volatility has increased foreign exchange risk exposure which in turn has raised transaction costs of companies. Naturally, higher transaction costs results in lower profitability which subsequently affects the market prices of traded stocks. During the period 2008 to 2015, the Kenyan currency market experienced significant fluctuations in exchange rates – topping at the all-time high of Kshs 110 to the US dollar. This coincided with a period of depressed performance in the Nairobi Securities Exchange with regard to capitalization. This study sought to examine the effect of fluctuations in exchange rates on share prices of the listed companies in Kenya. Both the flow-oriented theory of exchange rates and efficient market hypothesis formed the theoretical foundation of the study. The study employed a longitudinal research design and a census of all the 61 listed companies was taken. The study utilized secondary data on the daily mean exchange rates between Kenyan shillings and United States Dollar and daily mean share prices for the 8 years period from January 2008 to December 2015.The relevant diagnostic tests for time series linear regression analysis were conducted to determine suitability of the collected data for the study. Regression analysis was performed to analyze the data. Both the F and t-tests were used at 5% significance level to test the significance of the overall model and coefficient of the independent variable respectively. The results of the study showed that exchange rates volatility had a significant adverse effect on the share prices. Based on this empirical finding, the study recommended that the managers of the Kenyan monetary system should adopt policies that promote stable exchange rate regime. Further, the study advocated for fast-tracking of the impending launch of the derivatives market in NSE to enable effective mitigation of the negative impact of exchange rates volatility in the economy.  Article visualizations:
 
Publisher Open Access Publishing Group
 
Contributor
 
Date 2019-11-28
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

 
Format application/pdf
 
Identifier https://oapub.org/soc/index.php/EJEFR/article/view/674
10.46827/ejefr.v0i0.674
 
Source European Journal of Economic and Financial Research; Volume 3, Issue 5, 2019
25019430
25019430
 
Language eng
 
Relation https://oapub.org/soc/index.php/EJEFR/article/view/674/1256
 
Rights Copyright (c) 2019 Robert Gitau Muigai, Irene Cherono
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0