Skip to main content

Cookie and Privacy Policy

Serrari uses cookies and similar technologies to operate this website. Google Analytics 4 is always on to measure content usage and improve our services. With your permission, we also use optional cookies to measure and personalise advertising.

Select Accept all cookies to allow optional cookies, or Reject optional cookies to turn off optional advertising cookies. Analytics remains on with either choice. You can change your advertising choice at any time through Cookie settings.

Cookie Policy (opens in a new tab)Privacy Policy (opens in a new tab)

Daily Markets & Wealth Brief

23 September 2026

Global bond yields sit near multi-year highs as central banks hold the “higher for longer” line. African bourses keep outrunning the world, and the NSE defends KES 4 trillion.

23 September 2026Francis MugoFinance Specialist and Land Economist
Contents & display options
Daily Markets & Wealth Brief

23 September 2026

Global bond yields sit near multi-year highs as central banks hold the “higher for longer” line. African bourses keep outrunning the world, and the NSE defends KES 4 trillion.

By Francis MugoFinance Specialist and Land EconomistPublished

Global Markets

Stocks face pressure amid rising treasury yields and inflation concerns driven by fluctuating oil prices.

Global bond yields are hovering near multi-year highs as central banks signal a “higher for longer” interest rate environment.

Global yield dashboard

Sovereign bondCurrent yieldMarket impact & catalyst
US 2-year Treasury4.75%Very sensitive to immediate monetary policy; recently pushed higher by a strong 2-year government auction.
US 10-year Treasury4.97%The global benchmark; testing the key 5.00% psychological resistance line amid hawkish Fed comments.
US 30-year bond5.29%Reflects long-term growth and structural inflation expectations; the curve remains notably flat.
Eurozone benchmarksVariesTracking US upward movements; the French–German 10-year spread has widened toward 100 bps over budget worries.

Market overview

  • US markets: Edged slightly lower as investors monitor high bond yields and inflation risks.
  • European indices: Traded mixed, with defensive sectors drawing support as tech plays slow down.
  • Asian markets: Saw moderate gains led by regional tech and manufacturing resilience.

Commodities

Prices are highly volatile due to shifting Middle East geopolitical tensions and hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve, which recently raised interest rates.

Energy

  • Brent crude: Trading around $99.43 per barrel.
  • WTI crude: Sits near $89.57 per barrel.
  • Natural gas: Priced at $2.94 per MMBtu.
  • Crude has slipped over consecutive sessions on hopes of diplomatic progress in the Middle East, though average energy prices remain high for the year.

Precious metals

  • Gold (spot): Trading at $4,353 per troy ounce.
  • Silver: Priced at $66.60 per troy ounce.
  • Platinum: Sits at $1,836 per troy ounce.
  • Gold faces downward pressure from a strong US dollar and expectations the Fed keeps rates higher for longer, despite heavy physical demand from China.

Industrial metals & agriculture

  • Copper: Up slightly to $6.78 per pound on structural demand from AI infrastructure and electrification.
  • Crude palm oil: Held above MYR 4,810 per ton on dry El Niño conditions affecting Southeast Asian yields.
  • Cocoa: Hovering near $5,402 per metric ton.

Africa

African stock markets are outperforming major global indices, driven by structural reforms, surging fintech adoption and a rebalancing toward frontier equities.

Major equity & regional highlights

Exchange / marketKey developments & performance
Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE)The top-performing equity market in Sub-Saharan Africa. Improving macroeconomic stability and robust corporate earnings pushed the GSE Composite Index to gains of over 67% year to date.
Nigerian Exchange (NGX)One of the world’s top-performing stock markets this year, up 73.7% in US-dollar terms year to date. Global passive funds are reallocating ahead of index reclassifications, with momentum from the $1.6 billion Dangote Petroleum Refinery IPO.
Bourse Régionale (BRVM)The joint exchange for the eight WAEMU countries has rallied over 53% year to date, powered by banking-sector returns and falling local policy rates.
Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE)Trading slightly lower as the rand consolidates around 16.28 per dollar. Investors are focused on the SARB policy announcement, where a 25 bps hike is widely anticipated.
Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE)Divergent daily trading with Equity Group dominating session turnover. Airtel Money Kenya expanded its market share to a record 11.1%.

Macroeconomic & corporate catalysts

  • The London mega-listing: Airtel Money, Airtel Africa’s mobile money arm, is expected to file for an IPO on the London Stock Exchange as early as this week, targeting a valuation between $8 billion and $9 billion.
  • Frontier index overhaul: JPMorgan is preparing to launch a new local-currency frontier bond index by the end of September. Africa is projected to hold a 45% weighting, poised to trigger inflows into local sovereign debt.
  • Continental integration: Regional trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is on track to hit $230 billion.
  • Nigeria clean energy fund: The $300 million Distributed Renewable Energy Fund, co-managed by Africa50 and the NSIA, reached first close at the UN General Assembly with an initial $25 million from the World Bank.

East Africa

The EAC Monetary Affairs Committee revived plans to link the Kenyan, Rwandan, Tanzanian and Ugandan capital markets, targeting a unified currency by 2031. Regional trade volumes surged 37% year on year to $52.3 billion, swinging the bloc into a $300 million trade surplus on soaring mineral exports.

Equity & exchange briefings

  • Nairobi Securities Exchange: The bourse defended its KES 4.0 trillion valuation threshold after a two-week correction that wiped out roughly KES 336 billion in paper wealth. A late-week rally across heavyweight banking counters halted an aggressive exit by foreign investors. Sector pre-tax quarterly profits rose to KES 88.9 billion.
  • Regional bourses: Regulators and depositaries from the NSE, Rwanda Stock Exchange, Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange and Uganda Securities Exchange reconvened in Kampala to harmonise settlement systems, clearing a path for cross-border trading without multi-broker bottlenecks.

Corporate catalysts & fintech shifts

  • Fintech battlegrounds: Communications Authority of Kenya data shows Airtel Money at a record 11.1% of mobile money, against M-Pesa’s 88.8%. Airtel Money is preparing to submit its IPO prospectus to the London Stock Exchange at an estimated $8–9 billion valuation.
  • Regulatory changes: The Central Bank of Kenya published its draft National Payment Bill, 2026, proposing a KES 250 million minimum capital requirement on electronic money issuers.
  • M&A activity: KCB Group is advancing plans to acquire a 22.23% equity stake in digital payments provider Pesapal, under review by Tanzania’s Fair Competition Commission.

Trade & infrastructure

  • $17 billion Lamu oil refinery: President William Ruto and Aliko Dangote met at the UN General Assembly to conclude financing packages for the 700,000 barrel-per-day East Africa Refinery in Lamu. Groundbreaking is scheduled for 30 September 2026, with partner states offered a combined equity stake.
  • Customs guarantee scaled: Afreximbank finalised a $29 million guarantee to expand the technology-backed EAC Customs Bond system, reducing transit delays for goods crossing intra-EAC borders.

Kenya Corporate News

Equity & financial sector realignments

  • Banking index recovers: The banking index retreated 4.49% over the month’s second half on foreign outflows, but heavyweights stabilised the market. Gainers were led by Co-operative Bank (+8.9% to KSh 34.80), Equity Group Holdings (+2.6% to KSh 98.50) and KCB Group (+3.3% to KSh 87).
  • The Tier-1 hierarchy shifts: Standard Chartered Bank Kenya dropped out of Tier 1 after its CBK market-size index fell to 4.5%, below the 5% threshold. KCB Bank leads at 17.3%, followed by Equity at 11.8% and Co-op at 9.4%.

The digital economy

  • Safaricom hits a milestone: Safaricom became the first Kenyan internet service provider to clear 1 million fixed broadband subscribers, a 36.1% market share, and widened its mobile subscription lead to 69.8%.
  • Airtel Money gains ground: Despite losing SIM subscription share, Airtel Kenya’s wallet reached a record 11.1% of mobile money as it rolls out “Bizna Wallet” for small businesses — prompting Safaricom to cut merchant Till and Paybill fees.
  • Sweeping fintech bill proposed: The National Treasury and CBK published the draft National Payment System Bill, 2026, with a KSh 250 million minimum capital requirement for major electronic money issuers and KSh 50 million for wallet providers.

Corporate earnings focus: Kenya Power

  • Turnaround highlights: Full-year revenues rose to KSh 238 billion as electricity sales grew 12.1% and system efficiency improved to 81.42%.
  • De-leveraging: Kenya Power paid down an Sh8 billion commercial loan to Standard Chartered Bank.

Nairobi Securities Exchange

Figures as at · Nairobi Securities Exchange — published daily Market Statistics Summary, as reported in this brief

Major NSE indices dashboard

IndexCurrent valueDaily changeKey market driver
NSE All-Share (NASI)247.75+1.69 (+0.69%)Broad-market recovery anchored by stabilised heavyweights like Safaricom and tier-one banks.
NSE 20-Share4,320.24+14.24 (+0.33%)Tracks the 20 top blue-chip counters. Boosted by local institutional buying interest.
NSE 25-Share7,009.16+65.81 (+0.95%)Outperformed other main trackers as high-weight banking counters pushed structural gains.
NSE 10-Share2,742.61+28.75 (+1.06%)Rebounded sharply as the ten most liquid stocks saw active volume injections.

Real Estate

The tale of two markets: suburbs vs satellites

  • The inner-suburban apartment glut: Kilimani, Kileleshwa, Westlands and Upper Hill are carrying a heavy oversupply of speculative apartments. Trackers report vacancy up to 30–40% in specific nodes, compressing rental yields to 3–4%. Apartment values in Westlands and Upper Hill fell by up to 2.8%.
  • The satellite town boom: Ruiru, Syokimau, Athi River, Kikuyu and Juja are thriving as high central costs and elevated mortgage rates lock buyers out of the core. Rents in these commuter areas climbed 8.7%, delivering the most stable cash-on-cash yields in years.
  • Standalone suburb scarcity: Prime standalone homes in Lavington, Spring Valley and Lang’ata continue to edge up, protected by owner-occupier demand and absolute scarcity of space.

HassConsult land index movements

  • Nairobi suburbs: Land values rose 1.4%, anchored by Lang’ata’s 4.1% quarterly surge. Muthangari, Muthaiga and Gigiri recorded retreats of up to 2.1% as builders paused. An acre in these zones averages KSh 230 million to KSh 378 million.
  • Satellite drawdowns: Ruiru land rose 4.1% on infrastructure scaling, while affordability pressures forced corrections in Ngong (-2.5%) and Limuru (-0.8%).

Structural triggers

  • Cash-dominated purchasing: Roughly 80% of property buyers operate strictly as cash buyers or use developer-direct phased payment models; mortgages remain a small fraction of transactions.
  • The UN global expansion: The United Nations is finalising plans to add three global offices to its Nairobi complex, insulating demand for Grade-A commercial space and diplomatic-grade housing in Runda and Gigiri.
  • Shift to neighbourhood retail: Developers have pivoted from mega-regional malls to convenience-oriented neighbourhood strip malls anchored by Naivas and Quickmart.
  • Phased self-build plots: High building and borrowing costs have pushed buyers toward standalone parcels of KSh 500,000 to KSh 2 million inside gated plots, built out in debt-free phases.

Kenya Snapshot

Every figure below carries the date it describes and who published it. Where this brief did not restate a value, the figure Serrari already publishes is carried over with its own effective date — it is never re-dated to today. Most recent figure in this snapshot: .

Macro

Equities

  • NSE All-Share (NASI)

    247.75

    +1.69 (+0.69%)

    As at
    Nairobi Securities Exchange, as reported in this brief

  • NSE 20-Share

    4,320.24

    +14.24 (+0.33%)

    As at
    Nairobi Securities Exchange, as reported in this brief

  • NSE 25-Share

    7,009.16

    +65.81 (+0.95%)

    As at
    Nairobi Securities Exchange, as reported in this brief

  • NSE 10-Share

    2,742.61

    +28.75 (+1.06%)

    As at
    Nairobi Securities Exchange, as reported in this brief

At a glance

  • 1The US 10-year at 4.97% is the number everything else is priced off — it is why gold fell and why frontier equity flows matter more than usual.
  • 2Ghana (+67% YTD), Nigeria (+73.7% in dollars) and the BRVM (+53% YTD) are the world’s best-performing equity markets this year.
  • 3The NSE held the KES 4.0 trillion line after a two-week correction wiped roughly KES 336 billion off paper wealth.

Sources

Share this brief:

Where to go next

Back to the brief archive