NAIROBI: The Kenyan shilling firmed slightly on Wednesday helped by tea exporters selling dollars, but traders expected it to come under pressured from importers buying greenbacks to pay for their routine end-of-month shipments.
The shilling was posted at 87.40/50 to the dollar by 0721 GMT, slightly stronger than Tuesday's close of 87.50/70.
"Some unexpected dollar inflows from the tea sector have supported the shilling," said a trader at one commercial bank.
"But that might not be enough to stop the weakening pressure from importers."
Traders had expected the shilling, which has dipped in the last two sessions, to weaken further if the violence in Egypt, one of the biggest buyer of Kenyan tea, hurt the commodity's earnings this week.
Tea broker, however, said demand from traders who sell to Egypt came through at the auctions on Monday and Tuesday. This is despite the political crisis escalating into violence in the aftermath of the overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi.
Tea is Kenya's top hard currency earner.
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