Equities Market
Equity prices slightly fell by 0.8% in the first week of December as investors continued to cash in capital gains, particularly in the banking sector. The NSE 20 led the downturn with a 2.3% drop, followed by the NSE 25 and NSE 10, which declined 1.0% and 0.7%, respectively. Banking sector prices contracted 1.5% week-on-week.
Weekly market turnover slightly grew by 1.7%, from KES 3165.89Mn to KES 3218.65Mn on higher prices despite a marginal contraction in the shares traded during the week by 4.5% from 112.58Mn to 107.52Mn.
Foreign investor participation dwindled to 20.3% from 38.3% the previous week, while net foreign outflows eased from KES 619.89Mn to KES 408.75Mn. Equity Group and DTBK attracted notable foreign inflows whereas Safaricom and BAT registered significant foreign outflows.
Market focus remained in the banking and telecommunications sectors, which together accounted for 56.4% of the total weekly turnover and 37.6% of total shares traded.
Safaricom remained the most traded stock, posting KES 1,020.98Mn turnover from 35.05Mn shares. The telco also saw a slight growth in foreign outflows from KES 633.05Mn to KES 674.60Mn.
Additionally, the telco giant an intention of Vodafone Kenya Limited to purchase an additional 15% stake, which is equivalent to 6,009,814,200 Safaricom’s shares, from the Government of Kenya. The acquisition is price at KES 34.00 per share, totaling to KES 204.3Bn or USD 1.6Bn. This leaves the government stake at 20.0% while Vodacom remains the largest shareholder with 55.0% shareholding. Vodacom does not intend for a takeover and is seeking an exemption for the same.
Laptrust followed with KES 600.0Mn in turnover after a private transfer of 30.0Mn share since the counter is yet to enter normal trading.
Equity Group ranked third after trading 4.97Mn shares for a turnover of KES 307.08Mn while its price edged down 2.8% to KES 61.00 per share.
Uchumi emerged as the week’s top gainer for the fourth week in a row, surging 48.1% from KES 1.08 to KES 1.60. The rally followed the retailer’s return to profitability, posting KES 8.80Mn in earnings for the year ended June 2025, its first positive result after years of losses, supported mainly by rental income. Portland Cement and Olympia Capital followed with gains of 7.8% and 7.1%, respectively.
[Graph in PDF]
Bonds Market
Activity in the secondary bonds market weakened with the value traded slightly sinking by 1.8% from KES 61.61Bn to KES 60.53Bn. The number of transactions also dropped by 8.61%, from 918 to 839 deals. This was largely attributed December’s auction for SDB1/2011/030 (15.2-years, 12.000% coupon) and FXD1/2021/025 (20.4- years, 13.9240% coupon).
The FXD2/2018/10yr bond was the most traded paper during the week, posting a turnover of KES 10.10Bn, followed by the FXD1/2017/10yr, which recorded a KES 7.75Bn in turnover.
The week’s auction was oversubscribed at 117.78% or KES 53.13Bn with the government accepting KES 47.11Bn to account for 132.8% performance against a KES 40Bn target. The accepted rate was within our earlier conservative rates forecasted.
[Graph in PDF]
Yield Curve
The yield curve recorded notable mixed movements necessitated by the on the run papers of November and December’s auction that came early.
The short-end shifted downwards right from 2- to 6-years papers on reactions from November’s FXD1/2012/020 (7-years) and FXD3/2019/015 (8.7-years) papers which entered secondary trading, where investors who got the papers from the primary sought capital returns from those who missed the same.
Long-term papers between 10-years and 15-years’ saw the curve around the section shift upwards on impact from December’s auction for SDB1/2011/030 (15.2-years auction which happened on Wednesday, December 3, 2025.
[Graph in PDF]
Interbank
The interbank rate remained stable, closing the week at 9.24%, a slight decline from the previous week, keeping the weekly average steady at 9.24%.
Closing interbank demand increased sharply by 121.1% from KES 7.35Bn to KES 16.25Bn even as average weekly demand shrunk by 48.0%, from KES 17.32Bn to KES 9.00Bn. The drop was occasioned by low liquidity demand fluctuation that brought down the average demand.
Bank excess reserves grew by 30.3%, from KES 7.6Bn to KES 79.9Bn, mainly due to coupon payments and rejected funds from primary auctions which injected funds into the system.
[Graph in PDF]
Treasury Bills
The weekly T-bills auction remained strongly oversubscribed at 220.23%, attracting KES 52.86Bn in bids against the KES 24.0Bn on offer, with KES 40.36Bn accepted.
Investor demand was distributed on all the papers with the 364-day paper, being the most oversubscribed paper by 303.7%, receiving KES 30.37Bn in bids, of which KES 17.88Bn was accepted. The 91-day paper also recorded exceptional interest, posting a 212.23% oversubscription with KES 8.49Bn in bids and KES 8.48Bn being accepted.
Additionally, the 182-day paper was oversubscribed by 140.03%, with KES 14.00Bn bids and KES 14.00Bn being taken up.
T-bill rates remained largely flat, suggesting that returns have reached the floor. Rates are expected to remain relatively stable unless a fresh policy rate cut is announced during the upcoming Monetary Policy Committee meeting on 9th December 2025.
[Graph in PDF]
Currency
The Kenyan shilling strengthened 0.4% w-w to KES 129.31 per US dollar to drive the daily forex average rate 0.3% to an earlier market perception occasioned by high public debt levels. Pressure however, remain from the rising external debt and overall debt contribution to GDP.
On a year-to-date basis, the shilling is relatively stable against the US dollar.
Forex reserves pushed up to USD 12.03Bn, equivalent to 5.2 months of import cover, remaining comfortably above the Central Bank of Kenya’s minimum threshold of 4.0 months. Reserves continue to benefit from Eurobond proceeds, steady diaspora remittances, and robust agricultural export performance.
Diaspora remittances rose to USD 438.8Mn in October 2025, a marginal increase from September. On a year-on- year basis, inflows were up 0.4%, compared to USD 437.2Mn recorded in October 2024.
