NAIROBI: The Kenyan shilling was steady against the dollar on Monday, with traders expecting the local currency to strengthen further in coming sessions due to low dollar demand.
At 0736 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 83.90/84.00, barely changed from Friday's close of 83.85/84.05.
"We are seeing very weak demand for dollars at the moment," said Duncan Kinuthia, head of trading at Commercial Bank of Africa.
However, Kinuthia said the shilling's 2.2 percent rally since the March 4 election could put the currency under pressure as importers who had been sitting out recently may rush in to buy dollars at lower levels.
Uhuru Kenyatta, the country's richest man and son of its founding President Jomo Kenyatta, was sworn in as the new president on April 9, after his win was upheld by the Supreme Court following a challenge.
The peaceful election avoided a repeat of tribal fighting that followed the previous vote five years ago and bolstered investor confidence in Kenyan markets.
But Kenyatta faces a trial at the International Criminal Court on charges related to that violence, potentially clouding the outlook.
Traders said the shilling's next resistance level was 83.50, after it conclusively breaks though the 84.00 psychological level.
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