Kenyan shares inched up yesterday on a cocktail of positive factors including improved corporate earnings, falling inflation and interest from investors fleeing the Nigerian market.

The benchmark NSE-20 share index rose by just over a third of a percentage point to close at 5,242.61 points.

Collective earnings before tax for banks rose 13.7 per cent last year to Sh141 billion, reports said, citing a Central Bank's survey. Individual lenders are expected to start posting earnings later this month.

Analysts say the stock market has gained from an exodus of investors from the Nigerian bourse after a sharp drop in crude prices hit markets in Africa's biggest economy.

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