NSE 10 falls 3.5% in a week as foreigners sell $9.4m, despite the KSh42bn KPC block trade

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Kenya’s biggest listed companies lost ground last week even as trading at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) jumped more than fourteen-fold. The NSE 10, which tracks the most traded blue chips, fell 3.5% in the week to October 23, and foreign investors sold a net $9.4m (about KSh1.2bn) worth of shares.

The figures come from Standard Investment Bank’s (SIB) weekly market wrap released on October 26. The broader Nairobi All Share Index (NASI) dropped 2.3%, the NSE 25 lost 2.8% and the NSE 20 eased 1.7%.

One KPC trade made up 93% of turnover

Weekly turnover rose to $348.3m (about KSh45.2bn), up 1,324.7% from the week before. Almost all of it came from a single KSh42bn block trade in Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC), which accounted for 93.4% of the week’s activity. KPC shares rose 17.2% to close at KSh10.55, making it both the most traded counter and the top gainer among the large stocks.

The trade follows the sale of a large KPC stake to Dangote, which has drawn political criticism. President Ruto defended the deal last week as the stake showed a paper gain.

Take KPC out, and the picture was weak. Safaricom fell 4.6% to KSh33.30 and KCB Group dropped 4.7% to KSh85.25. Equity Group lost 2.5% to KSh97.50, while Diamond Trust Bank slipped 0.3% to KSh186.25.

Foreign sellers targeted Safaricom and the big banks

Foreign investors made up 38.4% of trading, up from 30.2% the week before, but they were net sellers. Safaricom saw the largest foreign net outflow at about $5m (about KSh650m), followed by KCB at $2.4m (about KSh312m) and Equity at $1.6m (about KSh208m).

Kenya Power led the small list of foreign buys at about $77,700 (about KSh10.1m), followed by Carbacid Investments and Standard Chartered Bank Kenya. Foreign selling has been a theme all year: overseas investors had already pulled KSh17.8bn from the NSE by mid-October, more than in all of 2025.

Biggest losers and the few gainers

Standard Group was the worst performer among the stocks SIB tracked, down 8.2% to KSh5.82. Express Kenya fell 6.9% to KSh7.02, Family Bank 6.7% to KSh25.80, Home Afrika 6.5% to KSh1.00 and Olympia Capital 6.4% to KSh7.02.

On the other side, Uchumi Supermarket rose 8.5% to KSh1.40, the NSE’s own shares gained 5% to KSh31.50, Longhorn Publishers added 3.1% to KSh2.69 and Africa Mega Agricorp rose 2.6% to KSh330.

Still up strongly for the year

The weekly dip barely dents this year’s gains. Equity is still up 46.1% in 2026, KCB 29.7%, DTB 62.7% and Safaricom 17.5%. Car & General leads the year with a 423% rise, and Africa Mega Agricorp is up 368.1%. Eveready East Africa is the weakest, down 35.8% to KSh0.88.

The fall extends a choppy month. The NASI also dropped 4.56% in a single week earlier in October, according to Central Bank of Kenya data.

What investors are watching this week

SIB said investors will watch the close of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery offer on October 27 and Kenya’s October inflation figures, due on October 30. The bank upgraded the Dangote refinery to buy, raising its fair value to $0.63 a share from $0.45.

Locally, Kakuzi has issued an updated profit warning, saying 2026 earnings will be significantly lower than last year because of weak macadamia prices and smaller crops. In August it had warned of a fall of at least 25%.

For a retail investor, the lesson from the week is to look past headline turnover. One block trade can make the market look busy while most prices fall. If you’re new to buying shares, our guides explain how to buy shares on the NSE and how a share trade settles.