Nairobi, March 9 -- The current bear run in the East African bourses may continue for a while longer, as stock prices in the world's developed markets this week soared to record highs, reflecting improving investor confidence in them, but to the detriment of smaller markets.

The Standard and Poor's 500 (S&P500), which tracks the stock performance of the 500 largest companies listed on American exchanges, on Monday rose 27 percent year-on-year to hit its highest level in history, an indication of improving share prices of the tracked companies.

On the same day, the Nikkei Index - the Japanese equivalent of S&P500, tracking performance of the 225 top companies traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange - jumped 42 percent to also hit a record hig...