Kenyas shilling a tad stronger on low dollar demand; stocks rise

Lacklustre demand for the dollar from corporate buyers helped Kenya‘s shilling firm slightly on Friday, traders said, while stocks rose.

At the close of trade, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 102.10/30 to the greenback, a little stronger than Thursday’s close of 102.15/25.

“There was minimal demand for the dollar. There has not been anything major,” said one Nairobi-based trader.

Kenya‘s central bank held its benchmark lending rate at 11.50 percent this week, saying the exchange rate had stabilised and the current account deficit had narrowed.

The move helped stabilise the local currency, traders said.

The shilling, down more than 11 percent against the dollar this year, has been under pressure partly because of global dollar strength and partly because of domestic issues, such as a hefty trade gap and budget deficit.

On the Nairobi Securities Exchange, the main NSE-20 Share Index was up 21.27 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 3,992.58 points.

On the secondary market, government bonds worth a total 942.9 million shillings ($9.24 million) were traded, from 728 million a day earlier.