Week 13 of 2026, Ended Friday March 27
The Nairobi Securities Exchange recorded its worst week since the COVID-19 pandemic, with KSh 231.17Bn in market value erased across five consecutive losing sessions.
- •It was the second largest weekly decline since 2008, behind only the KSh 340.86Bn lost during the week the WHO declared the pandemic in March 2020.
- •Market capitalisation fell 6.66% to KSh 3,241.82Bn from KSh 3,472.96Bn, dropping below the pre-KPC listing level of KSh 3,289Bn and erasing the entire listing premium added when Kenya Pipeline Company joined the exchange in early March.
- • Year-to-date gains narrowed from 12.24% to 4.76%.
The market entered the week structurally exposed to any negative catalyst. Investor wealth had surged from KSh 2.94Tn to above KSh 3.5Tn in eleven weeks, a rally built entirely on domestic capital while foreign investors sold throughout. Safaricom's Ziidi Trader, launched February 10, captured 55% of NSE orders on day one but just 2% of traded value, flooding the market with small-ticket retail buying that gave institutional holders the liquidity to exit at multi-year highs. When the global trigger arrived, there was no floor underneath.
All major indices posted steep declines. The NSE 10 lost 9.02%, its worst week since launching in September 2023. The Banking Index fell 8.03%, with Thursday's 3.91% drop marking its worst single session since launching in October 2025. The NSE 25 declined 7.49%, the NSE 20 shed 6.62%, and the NASI fell 6.66%. Monday's KSh 96.02Bn loss ranks as the 7th largest single-day decline since 2008.
Trading activity surged even as prices fell. Equity turnover rose 133.26% to KSh 4.8Bn from KSh 2.06Bn the previous week, while traded volume nearly doubled to 149.58M shares. The spike in volume during a selloff confirms institutional distribution rather than thin-market drift.
Biggest Movers
ABSA led large-cap decliners, falling 14.5% to KSh 27.20. HF Group lost 12.4%, KCB shed 10.5% to KSh 68.00, Equity and Co-operative Bank both dropped 9.8%, and Safaricom fell 7.27% to KSh 28.05. Kenya Airways lost 11.6%, Kenya Re and CIC each fell more than 10%. Gainers were scarce, with Limuru Tea rising 2.8% and Liberty Kenya adding 1.5%.
Turnovers and Flows
Banking dominated at 62.63% of weekly turnover (KSh 3.0Bn). KCB led at KSh 952.1M on 13.9M shares, followed by Equity at KSh 894.6M and Stanbic at KSh 427.4M. The top five counters accounted for 72.42% of total turnover, up from 67.38% the previous week. Safaricom led telecoms at KSh 1.03Bn (21.46% of total). Energy contributed 7.50% (KSh 360.1M) and insurance 3.25%.
Foreign investors recorded a net outflow of KSh 503.76M, up from KSh 354.93M the previous week. The daily pattern tracked geopolitical headlines closely: heavy selling on Monday (-KSh 194.4M) and Friday (-KSh 232.6M), with brief inflows on Wednesday (+KSh 139.2M) when Trump claimed Iran negotiations were underway, before Iran's rejection reversed the optimism.
Bond turnover fell 22.56% to KSh 64.37Bn. The Bond Index declined 0.80% to 1,192.33. Derivatives activity rose 39.82% to 6,499 contracts worth KSh 40.3M.
Market Drivers
The pressure on the NSE is being amplified by a global oil shock that threatens Kenya's inflation outlook and monetary policy trajectory. Brent crude closed the week above $106, up 47% from pre-war levels, after Iran rejected direct peace talks with the United States. Iraq's force majeure on all foreign oilfields and Kuwaiti refinery strikes compounded fears.
EPRA held pump prices unchanged for the current cycle, but noted pricing was based on February cargoes predating the war. The cost of Murban crude imported by Kenya jumped 21% in one week in early March. The April 15 review will be the first to capture war-era pricing, threatening to push inflation above 4.3% and potentially stall the CBK's rate-cutting cycle.
Corporate Actions
Diamond Trust Bank reported group profit above KSh 10Bn for the first time (up 21.4%). Co-operative Bank posted record net profit of KSh 29.75Bn (up 16.9%). Multiple banks declared significantly higher dividends, underscoring the disconnect between record earnings and collapsing share prices.
