February 2026 market overview. Inflation and policy rates declined, Treasury refinanced near-term Eurobond maturities and Kenyan equities delivered strong gains.
Month’s highlights
- Annual inflation declined to 4.25% from 4.40% in January.
- The Monetary Policy Committee reduced the Central Bank Rate from 9.00% to 8.75%.
- Treasury completed a USD 2.25 billion Eurobond transaction to refinance 2028 and 2032 maturities.
- Pension-scheme investment in NSE-listed shares increased 54.6% year on year to KShs 312.84 billion in December 2025.
- Safaricom launched the Ziidi Trader platform with the NSE, contributing to record daily equity-deal activity.
Economic indicators
The Shilling appreciated against the US Dollar, Sterling Pound and Euro, closing at KShs 129.02, KShs 174.10 and KShs 152.39 respectively. Usable foreign exchange reserves increased 1.63% to USD 12.54 billion, equivalent to 5.4 months of import cover.
Fixed income
KESONIA declined to 8.85%, average interbank volume fell to KShs 8.10 billion and commercial-bank excess reserves rose to KShs 52.30 billion. T-bills recorded 279.02% overall subscription, with the 364-day paper reaching 507.04%. T-bond turnover increased to KShs 381.81 billion across 4,785 deals.
Equities
Market capitalisation gained 10.61% to KShs 3.41 trillion. NASI, NSE 20, NSE 25 and NSE 10 advanced 10.61%, 13.67%, 11.77% and 10.83% respectively, while the Banking Sector Index gained 14.36%.
Global and regional markets
The S&P 500 declined 0.87%, while European, Asian and emerging-market indices broadly gained. South Africa, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda all posted positive monthly performance.
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