Nairobi Securities Exchange — NSE 25 Crashes 20.29% for July 20-24 Week as AMAC, Kenya Airways Defy Selloff
The NSE 25 fell 20.29% in the week ended July 24, 2026, despite surprisingly positive breadth of 28 gainers against 22 losers. AMAC rose 7.9% and Kenya Airways added 8.0%, while Safaricom earnings and a new banking index kept the market busy.
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The sharpest signal from the Nairobi Securities Exchange in the week of July 20-24, 2026 was not just the scale of the index drop, but the contradiction underneath it. The NSE 25 slumped 20.29% to 3,030.0 points, yet market breadth was still positive at 28 gainers, 22 losers and 7 unchanged across 57 listed counters. That kind of split usually points to heavy pressure in a handful of large-cap names rather than a uniform selloff across the entire Kenya stock market.
The macro backdrop helps explain why the market felt fragile even as many stocks rose. The USD/KES weakened 0.87% to 129.53 over the week, raising the cost of imported inputs and making foreign-currency liabilities more expensive to service. At the same time, Brent crude ended at $97.07 a barrel, down 3.6% on the day but still up 8.8% on the week. For Kenya, a net oil importer, that combination matters: a weaker shilling and higher weekly oil prices can squeeze transport, manufacturing and consumer-facing businesses even before earnings fully reflect the pressure.
Key figures
- NSE 25: 3,030.0 points, down 20.29% for the week
Nairobi stock exchange today: index damage masked a more selective market
The first lesson from NSE Kenya today is that the headline index move overstated the weakness in the average stock. With 28 counters advancing against 22 decliners, the broader tape was not collapsing in the same way the benchmark was. That matters for retail investors reading NSE share prices: when breadth is positive but the index is down more than 20%, the pressure is usually concentrated in the heaviest names, especially banks, telecoms and other institutional favorites.
Trading activity supports that reading. KCB Group recorded 66.67 million KES in traded value and edged up 0.3%, while Kenya Power added 0.5% on 39.92 million KES. Co-operative Bank was flat on 29.70 million KES, and I&M Holdings slipped 0.7% on 29.11 million KES. But the standout in turnover was Stanbic Holdings, with 206.46 million KES traded despite a modest 0.7% decline. That concentration in liquid financial names came in the same week the exchange announced, on July 24, the launch of a Banking Sector Index, according to the NSE press release.
Global markets also fed into local positioning. International headlines pointed to easing oil prices late in the week as U.S.-Iran peace talks continued, but the weekly picture remained inflationary for energy importers. Gold rose 0.5% to $4,066.9, silver gained 1.8% to $58.84, and coffee climbed 2.1% to $315.9. Those moves matter in Nairobi because they shape risk appetite, inflation expectations and sector rotation, especially for investors balancing domestic equities against commodity-linked themes and hard-asset hedges.
The main story: large-cap financials dragged the NSE 25 despite a flood of announcements
The most plausible explanation for the 20.29% weekly drop in the NSE 25 is the weakness in large-cap financials and other index-heavy counters. Equity Group, often tracked through the lens of the Equity Bank share price, fell 1.4% to 86.75 KES. NCBA Group also lost 1.4% to 90.5 KES, I&M Holdings shed 0.7% to 67.5 KES, Jubilee Holdings slipped 0.8% to 380.0 KES, and BK Group declined 0.9% to 56.5 KES. Those are not dramatic single-stock moves, but in a concentrated benchmark they can have an outsized effect.
That pressure came even as the market processed an unusually heavy batch of corporate disclosures. The exchange published 20 official announcements on July 24 alone, including audited results from Safaricom for the year ended March 31, 2026, Nation Media Group, TotalEnergies Marketing Kenya, Home Afrika, Limuru Tea, Shri Krishana Overseas, Express Kenya and Car & General Kenya. There were also multiple AGM notices, an NSE director appointment, and market-structure updates. The flow was enough to keep stock-specific trading active, but not enough to offset index-level weakness in the biggest names.
Safaricom remained central to the week’s narrative even though it is blocked from headline treatment here. In Nairobi, that is unavoidable: the company can account for 40% or more of benchmark weightings, and its annual results often shape sentiment across the entire market. For anyone checking the safaricom share price today, the key issues go beyond voice and data revenue. The market will be parsing M-Pesa growth, margins in digital financial services, and the pace of the Ethiopia expansion, which remains one of the most important long-term growth variables in East African equities. For context, Afrivestia previously examined that dynamic in Bourse de Nairobi — Le NSE 25 chute de 20,29% pendant que les résultats 2026 de Safaricom soutiennent le marché.
AMAC and Kenya Airways stood out as the week’s clearest winners
Against that heavy index backdrop, Africa Mega Agricorp delivered one of the strongest performances on the board, rising 7.9% to 120.0 KES. The move came in a week when agricultural commodities were firm globally, with coffee up 2.1%, cocoa up 1.9% and cotton up 0.2%. That does not automatically translate into earnings upside for every agribusiness, but it does help explain why investors may have looked more closely at food and agriculture exposure as a relative shelter from imported inflation and currency volatility.
Kenya Airways gained 8.0% to 5.96 KES, making it one of the week’s best performers. The timing is notable. Brent fell 3.6% on the day, dropping back below $100 a barrel, and airline stocks are highly sensitive to fuel expectations. Still, the relief should be kept in perspective: oil was up 8.8% over the full week, and the USD/KES at 129.53 means dollar-denominated fuel costs remain a real pressure point. For Kenya Airways, lower daily oil prices can improve sentiment quickly, but the weekly macro picture is still challenging.
Other gainers reinforced the selective nature of the market. Nation Media Group rose 8.3% to 13.0 KES, though it is blocked from lead treatment. TPS Eastern Africa Serena added 5.1% to 15.5 KES, Crown Paints climbed 4.8% to 60.0 KES, Unga Group gained 3.2% to 32.0 KES, Diamond Trust Bank Kenya rose 3.2% to 154.5 KES, Britam Holdings advanced 3.0% to 17.0 KES, and Centum Investment added 1.7% to 15.2 KES. Britam’s move was especially interesting after Business Daily reported that the stock had reached an 11-year high and was set to resume dividend payments.
Supporting stories: weak pockets, exchange reforms and what the banking index changes
The week’s biggest losers showed that risk appetite remained uneven. Kurwitu Ventures dropped 11.0% to 1,300.0 KES, Nairobi Business Ventures fell 6.5% to 1.3 KES, Standard Group lost 6.2% to 6.0 KES, and Sameer Africa declined 6.0% to 16.5 KES. Liberty Kenya fell 3.2% to 9.2 KES, Eveready East Africa lost 2.8% to 1.06 KES, and Uchumi Supermarket dropped 2.4% to 1.6 KES. These moves did not drive the index the way banks did, but they underscored how selective liquidity remains on the Nairobi bourse.
The exchange itself was also part of the story. According to NSE announcements dated July 24, the bourse launched a Banking Sector Index, appointed Sterling Capital Limited as a market maker in the NEXT Derivatives Market, and unveiled a retail-access initiative. Those are not cosmetic changes. A dedicated banking index gives investors a cleaner benchmark for comparing lenders such as KCB, Co-op Bank, I&M, NCBA and Equity. It also matters for product development, passive strategies and sector-level performance tracking at a time when banking remains one of the deepest pools of liquidity in the market.
Outlook: watch post-results digestion, bank positioning and the shilling-oil mix
The next phase for the Nairobi stock exchange today will depend less on the raw number of announcements than on how investors digest them. Safaricom’s audited results for the year ended March 31, 2026, plus fresh numbers from TotalEnergies Marketing Kenya and other issuers, will shape sector rotation in the coming sessions. The new banking index should also sharpen attention on relative valuation and performance inside the financial sector, where the KCB share price will be watched alongside Equity, NCBA, Co-op and I&M.
Macro will remain just as important. If the USD/KES extends beyond 129.53, pressure on importers, fuel users and companies with foreign-currency obligations could remain elevated. If Brent holds below $100, some of that stress may ease, especially for transport and logistics names. For retail investors trying to make sense of the week of July 20-24, 2026, the key takeaway is simple: the NSE 25 looked dramatically weak, but the broader market was more resilient than the headline suggested, and the next move in sentiment will likely come from the interaction between earnings, bank positioning, oil and the shilling.
