Nairobi Securities Exchange trading floor. The main share index
recovered from a previous session dip, led up by fuel distributor
KenolKobil. FILE
Nation Media Group
By Kevin Mwanza (Reuters)
The Kenyan shilling firmed slightly on Friday,
lifted by banks cutting dollar positions ahead of the weekend and by
waning importer demand for the U.S. currency.
The main share index recovered from a previous session dip, led up by fuel distributor KenolKobil.
At the 1300 GMT closer, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 84.30/50 per dollar, stronger than Thursday's close of 84.45/55.
"Demand for dollars has gone out so people have
decided it's a good point to sell," said Ignatius Chicha, head of
Markets at Citibank Kenya. "We could have some dollar demand from
month-end buyers next week, but not as much as we had this week."
The dollar sales helped the shilling come off a
six-week low of 84.65/75 it hit on Wednesday. It is up nearly 2 per cent
so far this year.
Kenya's main share index, which has gained 20 per cent this year, rose 0.2 per cent to 4,965.98 points.
KenolKobil jumped 3 per cent to Sh10.35 per share
after it said it had returned to profit on the back of a restructuring
programme it started last year. Barclays Bank gained 1.7 per cent to trade at Sh18.20 per share.
"Investors expect Barclays to post good
first-quarter results like its peers," said Rufus Mwanyasi, an analyst
at Tsavo Securities.
On the bond market, government bonds worth 1.8 billion shillings were traded, compared with Sh2.5 billion on Thursday.
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