By Andrew Kariuki

Trading at the Nairobi Securities Exchange closed lower in activity on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, even as select counters posted notable gains.

A total of 19.73 million shares were traded in 10,088 deals, with a market value of Ksh448.9 million. This marked a 34% decline in volume, a 46% drop in turnover and an 8% fall in deals compared to the previous trading session.

Despite the slowdown, 58 listed equities participated in trading, with 25 gainers and 24 losers recorded by the close of the session.

Sanlam Kenya emerged as the top gainer, rising 3.87% to close at Ksh9.66 per share. It was followed by BOC Kenya, which gained 3.76% to Ksh145.00, Olympia Capital Holdings at 3.50% to Ksh7.68, and Standard Group, which climbed 3.36% to Ksh6.16.

Other notable gainers included Uchumi Supermarket, up 3.26% to Ksh1.90 and Longhorn Publishers, which rose 3.21% to Ksh3.22.

On the losing side, Kenya Airways led the decliners, dropping 5.52% to Ksh5.82 per share. Shri Krishana Overseas followed with a 2.81% decline to Ksh9.00, while Nation Media Group fell 2.66% to Ksh14.65. Car and General Kenya and Express Kenya also posted losses of 2.64% and 2.62% respectively.

In terms of trading volumes, Centum Investment Company recorded the highest activity with 6.02 million shares traded, followed by Kenya Power & Lighting Company at 3.38 million shares, Safaricom at 2.31 million shares, and Kenya Re-Insurance Corporation at 1.24 million shares.

Market capitalisation stood at KSh3.48 trillion at the close of trading.

The benchmark NSE All Share Index (NASI) edged up by 0.17% to close at 208.48, reflecting a 1.25% gain over the past week and a year-to-date increase of 11.74%.

Other indices also recorded modest gains, with the NSE 10 Share Index rising 0.16%, the NSE 20 Share Index up 0.10%, the NSE 25 Share Index gaining 0.11% and the NSE Banking Sector Index advancing 0.10%.

The session reflects a market showing resilience in select counters despite an overall decline in trading activity.