NAIROBI: Kenya's shilling was marginally stronger against the dollar on Tuesday after commercial banks trimmed their dollar exposure amid tight shilling liquidity. Stocks edged higher.
At the 1300 GMT close, banks quoted the shilling at 91.60/70 to the dollar, slightly stronger on Monday's close of 91.70/75.
Chris Muiga, a trader at National Bank of Kenya, said commercial banks have sought to build longer shilling positions, but added that he expected the shilling would be on the back foot once the liquidity crunch eases.
Tight shilling liquidity makes it more expensive to hold long dollar positions, which partly supports the shilling.
"I still think 92 (to the dollar) is on the cards," added Julius Kiriinya, trader at African Banking Corporation.
Kiriinya said end-month dollar buying and the greenback's global strength pointed to a weaker shilling in coming days.
On the equity market, the benchmark NSE 20 index inched up by 0.06 percent to close at 5,213.48 points.
In the secondary debt market, bonds worth 1.3 billion shillings ($14.18 million) were traded, up from 762 million shillings on Monday.
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