NAIROBI: The Kenyan shilling strengthened modestly against the dollar on Tuesday after the country's debut Eurobond received bids worth more than four times the $2 billion sought.
At 0747 GMT, commercial banks posted the shilling at 87.80/90 per dollar, slightly stronger than Monday's close of 87.90/88.10.
"We have traded a tad firmer today on the back of improved sentiments possibly on the successful debut Eurobond," said Duncan Kinuthia, head of trading at Commercial Bank of Africa.
The east African nation received total bids of $8.8 billion for its maiden sovereign bond and plans to take up $2 billion, a senior Kenyan official told Reuters.
Kinuthia said the shilling's gains could be curbed by worries about security after Somali Islamist militants killed almost 50 people in an attack on the coast on Sunday night, followed by another assault nearby 24 hours later that killed at least eight people.
The assaults in the Mpeketoni area were the latest in a string of gun and bomb attacks that have hurt Kenya's vital tourist business, and which have been blamed on Somalia's al Shabaab militant group.
Western nations have issued travel warnings in the wake of the assaults, prompting many tourists to leave or cancel bookings.
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