Equities Market
The overall market edged up by 1.4%, breaking a four-week losing trend, supported by gains in the Energy (5.2%), Investment Services (2.9%), and Telecommunications (0.9%) sectors. Despite the recovery, NSE 10, NSE 20, NSE 25, and the banking Sector index declined by 1.2%, 1.9%, 1.2%, and 1.8%, respectively.
Weekly turnover dropped by 92.2% to KES 3.55Bn from KES 45.57Bn, due to a 97.6% decline in traded volumes to 110.41Mn shares. The sharp contraction was due to a 4.53Bn shares decline in the Kenya Pipeline counter after the one-off block transaction involving 4.54Bn shares valued at KES 42.5Bn, acquired by Dangote Industries Limited last week.
Foreign participation eased to 48.9% during the week, while net foreign outflows widened to KES 884.75Mn, reversing from a net foreign inflow of KES 41.28Bn recorded in the previous week. Equity Group, Safaricom, and KCB Group were the primary drivers of the outflows, registering net foreign outflows of KES 391.23Mn, KES 230.99Mn, and KES 254.49Mn, respectively.
Trading activity was concentrated in the Banking, Investment Services, and Telecommunications sectors, which jointly accounted for 79.9% of total market turnover and 55.9% of traded volumes. The Banking sector led activity, contributing 37.6% of the week’s turnover, followed by the Investment Services sector at 27.0%.
Nairobi Securities Exchange was the week’s most actively traded counter, recording a turnover of KES 955.96Mn from 27.79Mn shares traded, compared to KES 64.63Mn from 2.12Mn shares in the previous week. The surge in activity was driven by a sharp increase in foreign participation to 95.2%, with foreign sales exceeding foreign buys. Consequently, the stock gained 2.9% week-on-week to close at KES 32.40, up from KES 31.50.
Equity Group ranked second in turnover, recording KES 636.93Mn from 6.63Mn shares traded, a KES 264.13Mn expansion from KES 372.81Mn from 3.72Mn shares the previous week. The increase was largely attributable to heightened foreign activity, with foreign participation rising to 43.9%, from 38.3% the previous week. The stock price declined by 2.6% to close at KES 95.00 from KES 97.50.
Safaricom closed the top three movers list with a turnover of KES 542.76Mn from 16.30Mn shares, compared to KES 1,338.41Mn from 39.31Mn shares in the prior week. This came despite higher foreign participation, which rose to 65.3%. The counter shot up by 0.9% week-on-week to close at KES 33.60 from KES 33.30.
[Graph in PDF]
Bonds Market
Secondary bond market activity weakened week-on-week, with turnover sinking by 5.6% to KES 57.17Bn from KES 60.54Bn as the number of deals rose by 9.4% from 952 to 1041. This reflected a shift toward smaller-sized trades ahead of November’s first primary auction.
The FXD1/2026/30-Year bond, which was reopened in October 2026, emerged as the most actively traded paper, recording a turnover of KES 10.56Bn with its yield shedding 24.57bps as investors continue cashing in on the paper. IFB1/2018/15-Year bond followed with a turnover of KES 9.84Bn.
As November’s primary auction is scheduled for the coming week, activity in the secondary markets is expected to decline as investor focus shift to the primary auction.
[Graph in PDF]
Yield Curve
The yield curve shifted downward week on week, largely reflecting the continued effect of the recently auctioned October papers in the secondary market.
The mid-section of the curve, particularly around the SDB1/2011/30-Year bond, recorded lower yields as investors who secured allocations in the primary auction continued selling to participants who missed out in the primary.
Conversely, the long end of the curve, particularly around the FXD1/2026/30-Year bond, recorded higher yields as investors pushed for better discounts ahead of the bond’s primary auction scheduled for 4th November 2026.
[Graph in PDF]
Interbank
The interbank rate closed the week at 8.75%, with the weekly average also holding at 8.75%, remaining firmly anchored to the Central Bank Rate (CBR) and reflecting stable liquidity conditions in the market.
Demand eased during the week, with closing demand dropping by 40.4% to KES 11.80Bn from KES 19.79Bn, while average demand shrank by 48.4% to KES 10.33Bn from KES 20.00, indicating adequate liquidity by banks during the week.
Bank excess Liquidity strengthened over the week, as excess reserves climbed by 1.6% to KES 32.60Bn from KES 32.10Bn.
[Graph in PDF]
T-Bills
The weekly Treasury bill auction recorded a modest oversubscription, attracting bids worth KES 51.86Bn against an offer of KES 28.00Bn, translating to a subscription rate of 185.2%. The government accepted KES 51.69Bn from the total bids made.
Investor appetite remained heavily skewed toward the 91-day Treasury bill, which was oversubscribed by 407.9%, receiving KES 40.63Bn in bids, of which KES 40.56Bn was accepted. Meanwhile, the 182-day and 364-day tenures remained undersubscribed, with subscription rates of 53.2% and 59.1%, respectively, underscoring investors’ preference for shorter papers amid prevailing market uncertainty.
Subscription levels were supported by reinvestments from Treasury bill maturities amounting to KES 40.81Bn, which fell due on 2nd November 2026. In addition, a further KES 52.48Bn is scheduled to mature on 9th November 2026, with reinvestments of these proceeds likely to provide additional support in the upcoming Treasury bill auction.
[Graph in PDF]
Currency
The Kenyan shilling remained largely stable against the US dollar during the week, averaging at KES 129.89. Moreover, the shilling appreciated by 0.4% against the Japanese yen and Euro and by 0.2% against the British pound.
Foreign exchange reserves edged up by USD 47Mn week-on-week to USD 14.74Bn, equivalent to 5.9 months of import cover. Reserve adequacy continues to be supported by strong diaspora remittances and resilient agricultural export earnings.
Diaspora remittance inflows rose by 4.5% year-on-year to USD 438.5Mn in September 2026 from USD 419.6Mn in September 2025. However, cumulative inflows over the 12 months to September 2026 declined marginally by 1.0% to USD 5.03Bn from USD 5.08Bn recorded over the corresponding period in 2025.
