NAIROBI: The Kenyan shilling slipped on Friday on corporates buying dollars, but traders said they expected the currency to firm next week on continued foreign investor flows into local shares.
At 0859 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 83.75/95 per dollar, weaker than Thursday's close of 83.60/80.
"There is a bit of corporate demand for dollars. They feel the shilling gains have bottomed out at 83.60," said Sheikh Mehran, a senior trader at Kenya Commercial Bank.
Some traders, however, said the shilling, which has firmed 2.8 percent so far this year, is expected to get some support from foreign investors selling greenbacks to buy into local shares in coming sessions.
A 100 basis point cut on the central bank rate to 8.50 percent earlier this week and strong first quarter company results have renewed foreign interest in Kenyan assets in anticipation of accelerated growth due to lower interest rates.
"There is a lot of foreign interest in the large cap stocks," said Bank of Africa in a daily note.
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