The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) maintained an upward trend on 30th January 2026, recording gains in major indices and higher market valuation despite a decline in trading activity.
The volume of shares traded plunged 65% to 9.16 million from 25.9 million shares traded in the previous session. Similarly, equity turnover slumped 60% to KES 352.18 million from KES 886.21 million. Market capitalization edged up 0.16% to KES 3.08 trillion, highlighting improved investor confidence.
Market Movers
Regional brewer East African Breweries PLC (EABL) led the gainers, soaring by 5.4% to close at KES 258.5. The counter’s rally was supported by the announcement of solid half year 2026 results and a KES 4.00 interim dividend per share declaration.
EABL recorded a 37% growth in net earnings to KES 11.2 billion from KES 8.1 billion recorded in similar period the previous year, supported by strong income growth, operational efficiencies and lower finance costs. Other notable gainers included Uchumi Supermarket (3.3%), Eveready Plc (3.0%), Flame Tree Group (1.7%), and TPS Eastern Africa (1.6%).
On the losers’ side, national carrier Kenya Airways led, shedding 6.8% to close the week at KES 4.83. Olympia Capital, Absa NewGold ETF, Kakuzi Limited, and Umeme PLC lost 6.1%, 5.5%, 4.6%, and 4.4%, respectively. Umeme’s decline was mainly driven by a profit warning statement by the company’s Board of Directors expecting to record another consecutive loss in the year ended December 31, 2025 primarily due to cessation of operating revenue generation in March 2025 following the termination of the 20-year electricity distribution contract with the Government of Uganda.
NSE Indices Performance
The benchmark index, Nairobi All Share Index (NASI) recorded a modest uptick of 0.2% closing at 195.36 points compared to 194.60 points recorded in the previous session. The NSE-10 and NSE-20 indices gained 0.3% and 0.1%, to close at 2,046.82 points and 3,299.28 points, respectively. The NSE-25 index edged up 0.3% to 5,321.96 points, while the Banking Sector index slipped 0.5% to 215.03 points.
Derivatives
In the derivatives market, total volume of contracts traded decreased to 201 from 381 in the previous session, while the value of traded contracts decreased to KES 310,797 from KES 1.2 million. The number of open interest contracts edged higher by 2.4% to 8,632 from 8,431 in the previous session.
