ADDIS ABABA: Kenya's shilling was unchanged on Thursday, with traders reporting subdued appetite for dollars from corporate buyers and weak inflows from offshore investors, while stocks rose.
At the close of trade, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 102.15/25, the same as Wednesday's close.
"There has not been any corporate demand. We are looking at more inflows than outflows," said one Nairobi-based trader, referring to hard currency inflow.
Kenya's central bank held its benchmark lending rate at 11.50 percent on Tuesday, saying the exchange rate had stabilised and the current account deficit had narrowed.
The move helped stabilize the local currency, traders said.
The shilling, down about 13 percent against the dollar this year, has been under pressure partly because of global dollar strength and partly because of domestic issues, such as a widening trade gap and budget deficit.
On the Nairobi Securities Exchange, the main NSE-20 Share Index was up 24.31 points, or 0.6 percent, to close at 3,971.70 points.
On the secondary market, government bonds worth a total 728 million shillings ($7.13 million) were traded, from 821.5 million shillings a day earlier.
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