The NSE closed weaker on Thursday, with the All-Share Index down 0.58% to 247.53 and the NSE 20-Share off a marginal 0.01% to 4,366.90. Breadth was negative, 28 counters down against 21 up on 55 traded. Investment (+4.44%), Construction and Allied (+1.74%) and Energy and Petroleum (+1.46%) led sector gains, while Automobiles and Accessories (-4.18%) and Telecommunication (-1.23%) lagged. Turnover stood at KES 2.23bn across 13,863 trades, dominated by Equity Group (EQTY) at KES 1.18bn, with Safaricom (SCOM) and KCB Group (KCB) also active. Foreign investors were net sellers at KES -10.1m, 24.5% of turnover, selling Equity Group (EQTY) and British American Tobacco (BAT) while buying KCB.

Four Kenyan lenders, KCB Group (KCB), Equity Group (EQTY), Co-operative Bank of Kenya (COOP) and Stanbic Holdings (SBIC), were named among Forbes' top-performing global banks, a reputational marker for the sector even as banking shares slipped 0.19% on the day. CBK issued draft prudential and risk-management guidelines and a framework for domestic systemically important banks, open for public comment, which will bear on capital and governance requirements for the larger lenders once finalised. A government-brokered deal to import 540,000 tonnes of maize from Zambia addresses a domestic supply deficit tied to drought.