A surge in Safaricom shares pushed the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) to its highest valuation in history on Wednesday, delivering one of its largest single-day wealth gains in recent months and lifting all major benchmarks to new highs.
- •Total market capitalisation closed at an all-time high of KSh 3.194 trillion, after investors added KSh 63.02 billion in a single session.
- •The move ranks as the 17th-largest one-day gain since 2008 and is the biggest since October 16, 2025.
- •The session left the NSE at its most valuable level ever, underscoring Safaricom’s outsized influence on Kenyan equities.
Wednesday’s record close extends the momentum built in 2025, when NASI gained 51.10% and market capitalisation rose 51.80%, both record annual moves.
The rally followed Safaricom’s declaration of a record interim dividend of KSh 0.85 per share, up 54.5 percent year on year, a move that pulled liquidity back into equities.
Safaricom shares rose 4.41% to KSh 31.95 after touching KSh 32.50 intraday, their highest level since 11 August 2022. The stock dominated trading, with 19.2 million shares worth KSh 614.1 million, or 47.53 percent of total equity turnover. The jump in Safaricom accounted for the bulk of Wednesday’s KSh 63.02 billion increase in investor wealth.
At the close, Safaricom was valued at KSh 1.279 trillion (US$ 9.91 billion) based on 40.065 billion outstanding shares at an exchange rate of 129.02. At the intraday peak, its valuation briefly reached US$ 10.09 billion.
Index milestones
The NSE All Share Index (NASI) rose 3.94 points to 202.31, its first-ever close above 200 since launch in 2008.
The NSE 20, launched in 1964, reached 3,340.06, its highest level since 22 August 2018. The NSE 25, launched in 2015, closed at 5,437.33, its highest since 17 February 2020.
The NSE 10, listed in September 2023 with a base of 1,000, hit an all-time high of 2,095.85. The Banking Index, launched in October 2025 at 164.75, finished at a record 218.19.
Liquidity and flows
- •Equity turnover surged to KSh 1.2 billion on 34.3 million shares, up from KSh 779.8 million on 18.5 million shares the previous day, signalling renewed risk appetite.
- •Banking stocks traded KSh 494.2 million (38.25%), led by Equity Group, which moved 3.2 million shares worth KSh 221 million.
- •Manufacturing counters generated KSh 126 million, led by EABL and BAT, while Energy and Petroleum turnover totalled KSh 37.6 million, led by KPLC and KenGen.
- •Bond trading cooled to KSh 10 billion from KSh 13.6 billion, pointing to a rotation from fixed income into equities. In derivatives, 2,243 contracts worth KSh 5.6 million traded, led by the Absa Single Stock Future expiring 19 March 2026.
