The NSE 25 rose 0.82% on Friday, October 9, 2026, even as decliners outnumbered advancers 31 to 19. Fresh MSCI Frontier Small Cap additions and a wave of 20 announcements lifted activity, with I&M Holdings leading turnover.
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The clearest takeaway from the week in Nairobi was the divergence between the headline index and the broader tape: the NSE 25 rose 0.82% on Friday, October 9, 2026, to 2,792.78 points, even though market breadth stayed negative at 19 gainers, 31 losers and 6 unchanged. That split matters. It suggests the move was driven by selective buying in liquid counters and announcement-led trades rather than a broad-based rally across the board.
Key figures
- NSE 25: 2,792.78 points, up 0.82% on October 9, 2026
- NBV: +8.1% to 1.34 KES, the day’s top gainer
- I&M Holdings: +4.1% to 89.5 KES with KES 90.9 million traded
- Safaricom: -0.8% with KES 53.2 million in turnover
- KCB Group: -2.2% to 90.0 KES, despite KES 47.8 million traded
Nairobi Securities Exchange weekly recap: index up, breadth weak
For anyone tracking the Kenya stock market, Friday’s session was a reminder that index strength on the Nairobi Securities Exchange can mask a more selective underlying market. Trading value was concentrated in a handful of names. I&M Holdings led turnover at , followed by at , at , at , and at .
That concentration came on a day packed with news flow. The exchange published 20 official announcements on October 9 alone, including Safaricom Plc’s audited results for the year ended March 31, 2026, Car & General Kenya Plc’s audited financial statements for the period ended December 31, 2025, multiple AGM notices, and a market notice on the addition of new NSE-listed companies to the MSCI Frontier Small Cap Index. The NSE also announced a memorandum of understanding with the National Securities Exchange of Somalia, underscoring the exchange’s regional ambitions.
Macro conditions also shaped the tape. The USD/KES rose 0.59% to 129.58, pointing to a slightly weaker shilling over the week, while Brent crude climbed 4.0% on the week to $104.38 a barrel. For an oil-importing economy like Kenya, that combination matters. A firmer dollar and higher oil prices raise imported energy costs, pressure transport and manufacturing margins, and can squeeze household purchasing power. That helps explain weakness in names exposed to fuel or consumer demand, including Kenya Airways (-3.0%), Unga Group (-1.9%), and Express Kenya (-4.0%).
MSCI inclusion was the week’s key catalyst
The most important market-moving development was the NSE’s announcement that additional Kenyan-listed companies had been added to the MSCI Frontier Small Cap Index, according to the exchange’s October 9 statement. Even without a full breakdown in the data provided here, the significance is clear. MSCI inclusion boosts international visibility, can trigger passive inflows, and often prompts benchmark-aware frontier market funds to rebalance.
That backdrop helps explain the sharp move in Nairobi Business Ventures, which surged 8.1% to 1.34 KES, the best performance among Friday’s gainers. It was followed by Olympia Capital (+5.3% to 7.5 KES) and Standard Group (+4.2% to 6.4 KES). In percentage terms, NBV’s rise was the standout, but small-cap moves on the NSE can be exaggerated by relatively modest flows. The more consequential signal came from I&M Holdings, which gained 4.1% to 89.5 KES while posting KES 90.9 million in turnover. That combination of price strength and liquidity points to more meaningful institutional participation, or at least a more deliberate rotation into quality financials.
The move in I&M stood in contrast to the rest of the banking complex. KCB Group fell 2.2% to 90.0 KES, while Equity Group slipped 0.9% despite KES 42.1 million in turnover. That divergence shows the market was not buying banks indiscriminately. It was picking names one by one, which is typical in a week dominated by index-related positioning and company-specific announcements. For readers checking the KCB share price or the Equity Bank share price, the message is that liquidity remained active, but support was uneven across the sector.
Then there was Safaricom, still the market’s anchor stock and a near-systemic driver of index direction. The counter slipped 0.8% on KES 53.2 million of turnover even as the telecom published audited results for the year ended March 31, 2026. In the context of NSE Kenya today, that mild decline despite a formal results release may point to profit-taking or to a market waiting for more detail on the real growth engines: M-Pesa and the Ethiopia expansion. Because Safaricom often carries a very large index weight, its weakness likely capped what could otherwise have been a stronger move in the NSE 25.
Earnings, Dangote IPO access and a flood of filings
Beyond price action, the week stood out for the sheer volume of disclosures. Car & General Kenya Plc released audited financial statements for the period ended December 31, 2025, and its stock fell 1.4% to 280.0 KES on the day. Without the full income statement and balance sheet figures in the dataset here, it would be risky to over-interpret the move, but the immediate market reaction suggests the release did not provide a strong short-term upside catalyst.
Other disclosures covered TotalEnergies Marketing Kenya, Express Kenya, Home Afrika, Shri Krishana Overseas, and several AGM notices, including those for Nairobi Securities Exchange Plc itself. The exchange also published its unaudited half-year financial statements for the six months ended June 30, 2026, an important marker for how well the bourse is monetising trading activity. When an exchange reports its own numbers while also announcing MSCI-related progress and regional cooperation, it sends a broader signal about institutional development.
Another important theme in Kenyan capital markets this week was the opening of the Dangote Kenya GDRs IPO to local investors, following reports earlier in the week by Citizen Digital, Business Daily and Dabafinance. The information memorandum was published on October 9, according to official announcements. While the offer is not yet a direct driver of NSE share prices, it could absorb some near-term liquidity from active retail investors, especially if the minimum ticket highlighted in local press — KES 107,000, according to Business Daily — proves meaningful for household allocation decisions.
Gainers, losers and sector signals
Friday’s gainers were led by smaller and mid-cap names, but there were still useful sector clues in the list:
•NBV: +8.1% to 1.34 KES
•Olympia Capital: +5.3% to 7.5 KES
•Standard Group: +4.2% to 6.4 KES
•I&M Holdings: +4.1% to 89.5 KES
•Limuru Tea: +3.8% to 520.0 KES
•TPS Eastern Africa Serena: +3.0% to 17.3 KES
The presence of Limuru Tea (+3.8%), Sasini Tea and Coffee (+1.5%), Kapchorua Tea (+1.5%), and Williamson Tea (+0.6%) is worth noting. With USD/KES at 129.58 and agricultural commodities broadly firm — including coffee at 290.55, up 0.5% — export-oriented agribusiness names may be benefiting from a more supportive local-currency revenue backdrop, even if each company’s cost base and hedging profile differ.
On the downside, stocks more exposed to energy costs, discretionary demand, or portfolio rotation came under pressure:
•KCB Group: -2.2% to 90.0 KES
•Kenya Airways: -3.0% to 5.78 KES
•Centum: -3.2% to 18.0 KES
•CIC Insurance: -3.7% to 4.99 KES
•ScanGroup: -4.0% to 1.9 KES
•Express Kenya: -4.0% to 7.1 KES
The decline in the Absa NewGold ETF (-1.9% to 5,050 KES) may look counterintuitive given that gold rose 1.2% to $4,206.8. But locally listed ETFs also reflect liquidity conditions, replication timing and currency effects. In a week when the shilling weakened 0.59% against the dollar, the pricing of a gold-linked product cannot be read through the spot metal move alone.
Outlook: watch earnings detail, MSCI flows and oil-shilling pressure
Next week, the focus will shift first to a deeper reading of the results released on October 9, 2026, especially from Safaricom, Car & General, and other issuers that filed accounts. In Safaricom’s case, the most important numbers will be those tied to M-Pesa growth and the pace of the Ethiopia rollout, because those two themes remain central to how the market values the stock over the medium term.
Second, traders will be watching whether the MSCI Frontier Small Cap Index additions translate into sustained flow rather than a one-day burst of activity. That matters after a session in which I&M, Safaricom, KCB, Equity, and EABL together accounted for more than KES 256 million in turnover. Finally, the combination of Brent at $104.38 and USD/KES at 129.58 will remain critical for the Nairobi stock exchange today narrative. In Kenya, energy import costs and currency moves feed directly into corporate margins, consumer spending power and, ultimately, sector leadership on the exchange.
