NAIROBI, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's stock market defied political tension in the East African nation on Tuesday to record a 318 percent rise in turnover, but most of it involved foreigners selling to exit the bourse.

The tension arose from the swearing-in of opposition leader Raila Odinga as the "People's President" in the capital Nairobi, a ceremony the government outlawed.

Equity turnover stood at 12 million U.S. dollars on a volume of over 40 million shares from 9.6 million shares worth 2.8 million dollars on Monday.

The most traded counters were Safaricom, Barclays Bank, Kenya Commercial Bank, Equity Bank and KenolKobil after moving 18 million, 15 million, 3 million, 3.7 million and 1.2 million shares respectively.

Foreigners dominated trading at the market with 63 percent participation, but they traded mostly in sales (75 percent) exiting market.

The NSE 20 Share Index declined to stand at 3,727 points down from 3,739.69 in the previous session while the NSE All Share Index (NASI) similarly declined marginally to close at 181.04 points.

At the bond market, turnover continued with an upward trend as it surged to a new high of 39 million dollars, a jump from 26 million dollars in the previous session.