Wednesday, 18 November 2015 00:36
NAIROBI: Kenya’s shilling was steady on Tuesday as dollar demand eased. Stocks closed higher.
At the 1330 GMT close of trade, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 102.10/30, compared to Monday’s close of 102.20/30.
“There was hardly any activity at all,” said one trader at a Nairobi-based commercial bank, adding the local currency was likely to stay in the 102.00-102.40 range throughout the week.
Kenya’s central bank held its benchmark lending rate at 11.50 percent on Tuesday, saying the exchange rate had stabilised and the current account deficit had narrowed.
The announcement came after markets had closed.
The shilling has been under pressure this year, partly because of global dollar strength and partly because of domestic issues, such as a widening trade gap and budget deficit.
On the Nairobi Securities Exchange, the main NSE-20 Share Index was up 22.26 points to close at 3,950.97 points.
On the secondary market, government bonds worth a total 990.1 million shillings were traded, from 402.8 million shillings on Monday.
