Nairobi, July 1 -- The stock market offered investors the highest returns in the first half of the year, ahead of fixed income assets and property, as a rally led by bank shares boosted investor wealth at the Nairobi bourse.

Market capitalisation-the measure of investor wealth-at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) was up 27.8 percent, or Sh817.2 billion, to reach a record high of Sh3.76 trillion as at June 30.

This reaffirmed the Nairobi bourse as the shortest route to wealth in an economy that has oscillated between strong and soft growth.

Treasury bonds issued in the six months offered investors annual interest payments of between 12 percent and 14.2 percent, before withholding taxes of 10 to 15 percent on the interest.

Investors...