24 September 2026
US 10-year yields spiked past 5.1% to 19-year highs, dragging equities and metals down with them. The Dangote refinery’s $1.6 billion IPO opened, and the NSE shed KES 103 billion on foreign selling.
United States
US stock markets fell as a sharp rebound in crude prices and rising Treasury yields reignited concerns over sticky inflation and higher-for-longer borrowing costs. The S&P 500, Nasdaq and Dow all pulled back, reversing a tech-driven rally that had taken the Nasdaq to fresh record highs. A strong Q3 earnings outlook partly offset global trade worries.
Yields and data
- US 10-year Treasury yields hit 19-year highs, spiking past 5.1%.
- S&P Global PMI shows fast US business growth.
- Central banks continue to monitor inflation pressures alongside rate cuts.
Corporate
- Boeing face-off at the US–China summit: Hopes for a fresh aircraft order are fading ahead of the Trump–Xi summit; sources say Boeing is pivoting to salvaging a stalled May accord for 200 jets.
- Disney corporate drama: Former CEO Bob Chapek released a memoir breaking his silence on his 2022 ouster and blaming current CEO Bob Iger.
Europe & Asia
Regional performance breakdown
| Index | Current price | Today’s change | Primary catalyst |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nikkei 225 (Japan) | 65,902.74 | +1.36% | Catch-up trade post-holiday break; AI-led chip buying. |
| Hang Seng (Hong Kong) | 24,745.02 | -0.36% | Capital outflows stemming from surging global bond yields. |
| Shanghai SE (China) | 3,917.91 | -0.47% | Cautious positioning ahead of the Trump–Xi trade and tech talks. |
| KOSPI (South Korea) | 7,080.92 | +0.90% | Tech outperformance ahead of the Chuseok holiday break. |
Market drivers
- Indices drop: The pan-European STOXX 600 shed 0.4% to close in the red, wiping out a strong start. Germany’s DAX 40 and France’s CAC 40 followed the same downward path.
- Corporate & sector shifts: Heavyweight banking and insurance shares dropped significantly. Energy was the sole bright spot, gaining 1.3% on higher crude valuations.
- Energy costs jump: Brent crude bounced back over the $100 threshold after Iranian military officials indicated the Strait of Hormuz would not reopen without specific diplomatic concessions.
- Rising bond yields: High fuel import exposure renewed focus on regional inflation, pushing the German 10-year Bund yield to 3.55%. Japanese Government Bonds and other sovereign debt faced the same pressure.
- Summit vigilance: Investors traded cautiously ahead of the Trump–Xi summit, expected to shape global trade and AI regulatory dynamics.
Commodities
Energy and supply
- Brent crude: Settled down 0.9% to $102.13 a barrel.
- WTI crude: Slipped 0.7% to $91.56 a barrel.
- Supply buffer: Downward momentum is capped by restricted physical supplies, though reports that Saudi Arabia is bringing its East–West pipeline back online provide a minor relief valve for Western refineries.
Metals: hawkish central banks trigger liquidations
- Gold declines: Spot gold fell more than 1.3% to $4,284 per troy ounce as hawkish Fed commentary powered the dollar to two-month highs and dented non-yielding bullion demand.
- Silver and copper pull back: Silver slid toward $66.50 per ounce. Copper length was cut by 20% on the London Metal Exchange on short-term liquidations tied to shifting AI-infrastructure expectations.
Agriculture: structural weather shocks
- Grain surges: Corn and soybean futures opened higher as market algorithms adjust to climate headlines and structural supply squeezes set in.
- El Niño impact: Analysts warn a powerful El Niño cycle carries a 97% probability of persisting into 2027, setting a long-term inflationary floor under cocoa, coffee and sugar.
Africa
Robust fintech capital inflows and corporate listings are generating structural optimism, while rising global energy costs and sticky inflation push local central banks into hawkish positions.
Southern Africa: South Africa hikes rates
- Interest rate hike: The South African Reserve Bank raised its benchmark repo rate to 7.25%. Governor Lesetja Kganyago cited global shocks, including the volatile oil market, for driving domestic inflation projections back above 5%.
- JSE retracts: The Johannesburg Stock Exchange dropped 1.63% following the rate announcement, though the broader market retains a 5.15% gain for the year on robust mining dividend payouts.
West Africa: Dangote refinery launches $1.6bn mega IPO
- Nigeria’s landmark offering: The $1.6 billion IPO for the Dangote Petroleum Refinery launched on the Nigerian Exchange. Deemed a “people’s IPO”, demand crashed digital trading platforms across Kenya and South Africa.
- Unprecedented market returns: In dollar terms, Nigeria’s NGX All-Share leads with a 71.78% year-to-date surge, while West Africa’s BRVM is up 53.4%.
East Africa
Capital markets & realignments
- Nairobi foreign selling: The NSE experienced profit-taking, suffering a KSh 103 billion pullback on deeper foreign investor liquidations amid global bond yield spikes. Despite the dip, the NSE has maintained a 35.87% gain since the start of the year.
- Cross-border expansion: Over 50 Kenyan enterprises are exploring market entry into Rwanda via the Equity Bank Trade and Investor Roadshow.
- Bond market reforms: Kenyan stockbrokers and the central bank are at odds over World Bank-backed reforms; brokers argue that moving government bond trading to an over-the-counter model favours commercial banks and threatens local investment banking independence.
Regional trade & macro policy
- Surging trade surplus: Total EAC trade surged 37% year on year to $52.3 billion, pushing the bloc out of a historical deficit into a $300 million surplus.
- Oil shipping shock: Historic highs in oil tanker freight and charter rates — driven by prolonged maritime routes around the Middle East conflict — threaten to push up domestic fuel pump costs in Kenya and landlocked hubs.
- Open banking bill: The Treasury and CBK prepared an Open Finance Bill requiring banks and dominant mobile payment providers to share customer data with authorised third-party fintechs to spark cheaper lending.
Kenya Corporate News
Major corporate developments
- Access Bank Kenya folds into NBK: The CBK approved the complete transfer of Access Bank Kenya’s business, assets and liabilities to the National Bank of Kenya, resolving a KSh 2.1 billion capital deficit.
- Kenya Airways modernisation: Kenya Airways signed a multi-year deal with Sabre to replace its two-decade-old reservation, ticketing and check-in system.
- Quickmart lists on the NSE: Quickmart announced plans to sell half its stake — 2 billion shares — through an IPO on the NSE main market, expected to launch around 30 September.
Regulatory interventions & fraud scrutiny
- Investment fraud crackdown: Two executives linked to Quant Vest Stock Exchange Ltd and Global Investment Group were charged over a fraudulent, unlicensed investment scheme. Prosecutors say the ringleader is soliciting a further $400 (KSh 51,800) from over 12,000 victims under the guise of unlocking frozen assets.
- Insurance payment extensions: The Policyholders Compensation Fund extended the payment moratorium on KUSCCO Mutual Assurance, Trident Insurance and Corporate Insurance Company for another two months.
- Data centre licensing: The Communications Authority of Kenya opened a 30-day comment window on a standalone licensing framework for tier-structured commercial data centres.
Nairobi Securities Exchange
Figures as at · Nairobi Securities Exchange daily market snapshot for 23 September 2026, as reported in this brief
Daily market snapshot (23 September 2026)
- NSE 20-Share Index: Climbed 5.66 points (+0.33%) to close at 4,325.90, supported by domestic dip-buying across blue-chip counters.
- NSE All-Share Index (NASI): Declined 0.54 points to settle at 247.21 on localised corrections in large-cap telecom shares.
- Equity turnover & volume: KSh 646.92 million, with 17.19 million shares changing hands across 13,544 equity deals.
- Derivatives: Mid-week turnover of KSh 20.29 million across 23 deals.
Macro structural drivers
- Regional connectivity: The NSE signed an MoU with the National Securities Exchange of Somalia to enable cross-border dual-listings and portfolio capital flow.
- H1 results: The exchange reported a 386% surge in profit after tax to KSh 736.9 million for H1 2026, driven by 111% growth in equity transaction levies.
Real Estate
The Nairobi suburban cool-down
- Apartment price softening: Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company and HassConsult data show average apartment sales prices in Nairobi Upper down 22.5% and Nairobi Middle down 18.3%.
- End of the land boom?: HassConsult’s multi-decade satellite land rush is cooling; land price growth slowed to 1.4% as macroeconomic constraints forced developers to limit speculative land banking.
Government megaprojects & distress actions
- Affordable housing scaling up: The state pipeline has grown to a KSh 731 billion rollout covering 280,000 intended units, including a KSh 9.2 billion project for 2,820 homes in Stoni Athi, Machakos County.
- Cytonn property auctions: The government earmarked six prime Cytonn Investments developments across Nairobi and Kiambu — including The Ridge in Ridgeways — for public auction, aiming to recover KSh 11 billion owed to over 3,000 defaulted high-yield investors.
- Banking sector risks: The CBK flagged real estate and the personal household sector as primary drivers of rising non-performing loans as landlords adjust to risk-based credit pricing.
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
Inflation
6.6%
Year-on-year headline CPI.
As at
KNBS CPI, Aug 2026 — carried over from Serrari's published macro dataGDP growth
5.3%
Real GDP, year-on-year. Not restated in this brief.
As at
KNBS quarterly GDP (owner, 2026-09-14), Q1 2026 — carried over from Serrari's published macro data
Equities
NSE All-Share (NASI)
247.21
-0.54 on the session
As at
Nairobi Securities Exchange, as reported in this briefNSE 20-Share
4,325.90
+5.66 (+0.33%)
As at
Nairobi Securities Exchange, as reported in this briefEquity turnover
KSh 646.92m
17.19m shares across 13,544 deals
As at
Nairobi Securities Exchange, as reported in this brief
At a glance
- 1The US 10-year past 5.1% is a 19-year high — it explains the equity pullback, the gold drop to $4,284 and the foreign selling on the NSE.
- 2Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s $1.6 billion “people’s IPO” crashed trading platforms in Kenya and South Africa.
- 3The NSE lost KES 103 billion to foreign liquidations but is still up 35.87% year to date.
Sources
- Serrari Group desk compilation, 24 September 2026
- Nairobi Securities Exchange — daily market snapshot
- Serrari published Africa macro data