Kenya shilling steady, tea export inflows balance dollar demand

Kenya’s shilling was steady against the dollar on Tuesday, with demand for dollars balanced by inflows of foreign exchange from tea export sales.
Shares edged lower. By the 1330 GMT official close, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 102.35/45, the same as Monday’s close.

“Towards the end of the day some tea flows came in, so that might hold us a bit,” said one Nairobi-based trader.

Traders say trading has been cautious at these levels as central bank had sold dollars late last year around the 102.50 mark, providing support to the local currency.
The benchmark NSE 20 share index dropped 19.78 points to close at 3,910.14 points.