Turnover at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) rose 181 percent on Thursday to hit 9.9 million U.S. dollars on a volume of 55 million shares from 20 million worth 3.6 million dollars boosted by increased foreign purchases.

The foreign investors, whose participation stood at 92 percent and mainly buys, traded mostly Safaricom and Equity Bank.

Safaricom, Kenya's leading telecom operator, was the day's top trader after moving a record 44 million shares at 0.16 dollars.

Equity Bank came in second with 4.9 million shares that traded at 0.26 dollars, an increase of about 1 percent, while Kenya Commercial Bank followed third with 2.6 million shares that went for 0.28 dollars, a rise of 6 percent.

A surge in prices of several top stocks saw the NSE 20 Share Index go up 3.22 points to stand at 2,951.15.

On the other hand, the All Share Index (NASI) inched up 0.23 points to settle at 119.85 while the NSE 25 Share Index was up 24.86 points to stand at 3,192.55.

The bond market too witnessed improved activity with securities worth 40 million dollars transacted compared to 24 million dollars posted the previous session.