Kenya's shilling was slightly firmer against the dollar on Friday and dealers saw it maintaining its ranges in coming days. The commercial banks posted the unit at 67.30/40 against the dollar compared with Thursday's close of 67.45/55. Traders saw the unit trading at 66.00-67.50 in the days ahead.
"I cannot say we have strengthened, that is just a retreat," said Wilson Mutai, a trader at Co-operative Bank. "It is the weekend, people are squaring their positions. Being mid-month, demand and supply are equally matched so the shilling will be very rangebound in the near future." The treasury head at CFC Stanbic, Andrew Murugu, said the session was very quiet.
"There is no excitement but this being mid-month, it is not very unexpected," he said adding greenback inflows were still weak. "Maybe what will counter it (weak flows) is if there is any interest on the equities buying side. Now whether it is going to be driven by foreigners or locals, is the big question."