February 1, 2010, 11:30 am
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's shilling was little changed against the dollar on Monday and is seen firming in the coming days due to U.S. currency flows into government bonds and the stock market, as well as from the tourism sector.
At 0839 GMT, commercial banks quoted the local unit at 75.95/76.05 shillings per dollar, compared with Friday's close of 75.90/76.00 shillings.
Dealers said they expected the shilling to trade in the 75.70-76.30 range over the coming days.
"There's practically no difference. The market is very quiet. Being the first day of the month, I don't expect much activity," said Jeremiah Kendagor, head of foreign exchange trading at Kenya Commercial Bank.
Traders said they expected the shilling to benefit from dollar inflows into Kenya's stock and bond markets, which have in recent weeks attracted a lot of foreign interest.
"Going forward we might see some appreciation. We are seeing some interest in the stock market, coupled with the bond and we're seeing some tourism flows," said Kennedy Butiko, deputy head of treasury at Bank of Africa.
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