STOCKS NEWS AFRICA-Kenya's stocks race to a near 32-mnth high

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1456GMT 12March2010 - Kenya stocks near a 32-month high on agric shares

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Kenyan stocks race to a near 32-month high on helped by agricultural stocks after recent strong results and ahead of what is expected to be a bumper harvest in the East African country.

The benchmark NSE-20 index is up 50.27 points to 4,015.13 points, a level last seen on Nov. 5, 2008, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Among top gainers are shares in Kenyan agricultural producer Kakuzi (KUKZ.NR: Quote), at 86.50 shillings, up 11 percent from Thursday's close, after it reports a rise in full year pretax profit to 558.9 million shillings in 2009 from 390.2 million.

National Bank of Kenya (NBK.NR: Quote) closes at 54.50 shillings from Thursday's 50.00 shillings, buoyed by a 20 percent rise in full-year pretax profit of 2.16 billion shillings.

Coffee company Eaagads Limited (EGAD.NR: Quote) gains 10 percent to end at 27.50 shillings, boosted by announcement on Friday that Cedarsoc Limited of Mauritius had acquired 62 percent of Eaagads.