NAIROBI: Kenya's shilling strengthened in thin trade on Tuesday, helped by the central bank entering the market to mop up excess liquidity, traders said.
The shilling closed at 90.55/65 against the dollar, compared with Monday's close of 90.70/80 - its lowest level since Nov. 2011.
"We had the central bank coming in after staying out for almost two weeks, and this helped the shilling recover," a trader at a major Kenyan commercial bank said.
The shilling weakened before Christmas, due in part to dollar demand from importers and slowing tourism - a key source of hard currency inflows for east Africa's biggest economy - after a series of Islamist attacks in the country.
Traders said they forecast the shilling, which has lost 4.5 percent against the dollar so far this year, to trade in a 90.50 to 90.90 range in coming days.
"The market is quite thin. Most corporates have closed for the Christmas and end-of-year festivities," said Joshua Anene, a trader at the Commercial Bank of Africa. "Even a small swing on either side can move prices significantly."
On the Nairobi Securities Exchange, the main NSE-20 Share Index rose 0.83 percent to close at 5091.60 points.
On the debt market, government bonds worth 1.64 billion shillings were traded, up from 362.1 million shillings on Monday.
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