NAIROBI: The Kenyan shilling opened flat on Monday, with traders saying it might weaken as demand by firms for dollars picks up as they bring forward their typical end-month demand ahead of the festive season.
At 0733 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 86.52/72 to the dollar, compared with Friday's close of 86.55/65.
"We expect most corporates will be closing early, so from now till maybe Dec. 20 we'll see advance demand," said Andlip Nazir, a senior trader at I&M Bank.
The shilling is 0.6 percent weaker against the dollar in the year to date, and is seen trading in the 86.50-87.00 range in coming days, market players said.
The shilling might receive some support if the central bank mops up more excess liquidity from the market. The regulator on Friday absorbed 6.95 billion shillings using repurchase agreements at a weighted average rate of 8.068 percent.
"We expect the home unit to continue trading within current ranges with activity likely to slow down ahead of the long weekend," said Commercial Bank of Africa in its daily market report.
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