The Kenyan shilling was steady against the dollar on Tuesday, as some investors squared off their greenback positions to consolidate gains made in the year. Photo/FILE
The Kenyan shilling was steady against the dollar on Tuesday, as some investors squared off their greenback positions to consolidate gains made in the year, while others were tracking the weakening euro, traders said.
Markets were closed on Monday for the country's independence day. The shilling has lost 9.6 percent to the dollar this year, but is off its all-time low of 107 hit in October due to a tight monetary stance in the country.
At 0730 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 89.40/60 to the dollar, barely moved from Friday's close of 89.30/50.
"Right now risk appetite is low. Most people want to consolidate the gains they made in the year ... so they are not exposing themselves in the market," Duncan Kinuthia, head of trading at Commercial Banks of Africa.
"You scale down on position-taking, you scale down on your risk appetite. What you didn't make in the past 11 months, you will not make in the two weeks left this year."
Kennedy Butiko, deputy head of trading at Bank of Africa attributed the marginal fall of the shilling to a weak global euro to the dollar.
The local unit was however seen stronger helped by low dollar demand from importers and inflows from various sectors.
"Considering demand is fizzling out, we could see the shilling appreciate again because there is a lot of selling from non-governmental organisations, tourism and diaspora that should continue to support the shilling," Butiko said.
The shilling is expected to trade in a range of 89.00-89.50 during the session, traders said.
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