NAIROBI: The Kenyan shilling hovered at three-year lows on Tuesday after al Shabaab militants killed 36 people, putting pressure on the shilling because tourism is a key source of hard currency.
Stocks were a fraction lower.
At close of trade at 1300 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 90.30/40 to the dollar, compared with Monday's close of 90.20/30 after news of the overnight attack broke out.
"From the morning, security jitters drove the shilling," a senior trader at one commercial bank said.
The Islamist militants killed 36 non-Muslim workers at a quarry in northeast Kenya in revenge for Kenyan military action against the group in neighbouring Somalia.
Kenya has suffered a string of gun and grenade attacks since it sent troops into Somalia to fight al Shabaab in late 2011.
The attacks have hit the east African nation's tourism industry, putting pressure on the shilling because tourism is a major source of foreign exchange.
The shilling is down 4.8 percent this year to date.
On the Nairobi Securities Exchange, the main NSE-20 edged 0.04 percent lower or 2.00 points to close at 5,170.57 points.
On the secondary market, government bonds valued at 2.07 billion shillings ($22.91 million) were traded, down from 3.6 billion shillings traded on Monday.
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