NAIROBI: The Kenyan shilling edged down against the dollar on Friday with companies in the energy and manufacturing sectors buying the US currency, while shares fell.
The shilling closed at 89.40/50, slightly down from Thursday's close of 89.30/40.
"This is just due to usual end of the month and end of the week covering. There was also a bit of demand from energy companies and manufacturers," Sheikh Mehran, head of trading at I&M bank.
During the week, traders said the shilling was supported by demand for a 12-year infrastructure bond worth 20 billion shillings ($224 million) offered by the central bank.
Investors have been keen on the bond because it is exempted from tax and also has relatively good yields, traders said.
Traders say the shilling, which has lost about 3 percent to the dollar this year, is forecast to trade within a range of 88.70 to 89.50 range early next week.
On the Nairobi Securities Exchange, the main NSE-20 Share Index rose 38.54 points, or 0.7 percent, to close at 5,194.89 points.
Among the big losers was British American Investments , which tumbled 9 percent to 26.50 shillings, and Centum Investments, which fell 5 percent to 63 shillings.
Traders said investors were selling off shares in the two companies after they had risen earlier in the week.
Government bonds valued at 2.4 billion shillings ($26.85 million) were traded on the secondary market, higher than 1.7 billion shillings traded on Thursday.
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