Kenyan shilling weakens a touch on energy sector dollar demand

NAIROBI: The Kenyan shilling weakened marginally on Friday on dollar demand for dollars from the energy sector, traders said.

The local currency was seen holding steady in coming sessions with a bias for strengthening as demand for the US currency tapers off over the festive period.

At 0845 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 86.55/75 to the dollar, compared with Thursday's close of 86.50/70.

"It has weakened slightly because of (dollar) demand from the energy sector," said Sameer Lagadia, head of trading at Diamond Trust Bank.

The shilling is 0.6 percent weaker than the dollar in the year to date.