The ICC on Monday announced cases of crimes against humanity against four out of the six suspected, including two top presidential contenders, Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto.

At the 1300 GMT markets close, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 85.80/86.00 against the dollar, a tad firmer than Monday's close of 86.00/30.

"We're still trying to determine the new levels. ICC was creating jitters in the markets but now it's behind us and clients are coming back selling dollars," said a trader at one commercial bank.

Charts showed the shilling was likely to trade in a range of 85.00-86.00 this week, with a break past 85 ushering in a target of 83.00 per dollar, traders said.

Traders said the shilling could firm further aided by dollar inflows from the farm sector and diaspora remittances, coupled with continued tightening of liquidity by the central bank.

The central bank received 250 million shillings ($2.9 million) in repurchase agreements, half of the amount it sought to mop up, at a weighted average interest rate of 18 percent.

"The shilling is still strengthening after the ICC confirmations, which some guys had thought would lead to chaos and went long on dollars and are now selling," said John Muli, a trader at African Banking Corporation.

"There are also some inflows from the diaspora clients and the agriculture sector."

In the equity market, the key NSE-20 Share Index reversed previous days loses, edging up 0.4 percent to 3,128.88 points and traders pointed to a recovery from market jitters ahead of the ICC ruling.

"It seems like we are headed for a recovery, unless we see any new negative news in terms of inflation numbers, political shifting and forex volatility," said Francis Mwangi, an analyst at Standard Investment Bank.

"We should see full year corporate earnings that will boost activity. We are looking at capital gains of at least 8 percent in terms of dividends on major stocks."

Shares in beer manufacturer East Africa Breweries, one of the most capitalised stock on the bourse, rose 1.2 percent to 164 shillings.

In the debt market, government and corporate worth 749 million shillings ($8.7 million) were traded, down from 911 million shillings on Monday.