In the week covered by Standard Investment Bank's wrap dated 19 October 2026, the NSE All Share Index (NASI, which tracks every listed share) fell 1.8%. Foreign investors sold a net USD 9.5m, about KES 1.23bn at the KES 129.6 dollar rate Business Radar cited a week earlier.
That made three weeks of falls in a row, Business Today reported on 19 October. For KES 100,000 in a portfolio that moved with NASI, the last two weekly falls alone come to about KES 2,750 (our calculation).
Week by week
| Week | NASI | Net foreign flow | Turnover |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two weeks to 2 October | Not in sources read | Net buying, KES 224.35m | Not in sources read |
| To 9 October | −0.97%, to 244.93 | Net selling, KES 741.92m | KES 1.96bn, down 14.21% |
| SIB wrap, 19 October | −1.8% | Net selling, USD 9.5m | USD 24.6m, up 63.0% |
Source: Business Radar, 12 October 2026, citing Kenyan Wallstreet; SIB Kenya Weekly Market Wrap, 19 October 2026.
What the figures say
The week to 9 October (Facts): Business Radar reported a second straight weekly fall, with KES 40.06bn wiped off market value, which slipped to KES 4.11 trillion from KES 4.15 trillion. Two-week losses came to about KES 60bn. Every session closed with net foreign selling. Local investors carried about 76% of trading.
The latest week (Facts): SIB reports the NSE 20 down 1.5% and the NSE 25 down 1.9%. Equity Group took 24.4% of turnover, fell 3.8% to KES 100.00 and led foreign selling; Kenya Power led foreign buying. Foreign investors' share of activity rose to 30.2% from 23.7%.
Monday 19 October (Facts): foreign buying came to KES 8.4m against foreign selling of KES 47.8m, less than 1% of the day's activity, Business Today reported.
Where the sources disagree
On foreign money (Analysis): foreign investors were net buyers in the two weeks before 9 October, Business Radar reports, a period that includes the first week of falls. On these figures, foreign selling deepened the slide but was not, over those two weeks, behind its start. Business Today makes a similar point: conditions "reflect more than foreign investors selling".
The reasons given
Business Today (Facts): it names profit-taking ahead of third-quarter results, institutional investors selling medium-term positions ahead of the August 2027 election, and competition for global capital from US Treasury yields.
Business Radar (Facts): with Brent crude above $100 a barrel and the shilling near 129.6 to the dollar, it said some foreign funds "appear to be trimming frontier exposure". It also said the Quickmart share sale, open to 30 October, could pull cash away from trading in listed shares.
What to watch
- Foreign flows in the next weekly wraps: whether net selling eases.
- Third-quarter results from listed companies, which Business Today flags as the next test of prices.
- The CBK Monetary Policy Committee and the US Federal Reserve, both on Business Today's list.
- 30 October: the close of the Quickmart offer.
Information, not advice.