Kenyan shilling steady, traders wary of central bank intervention

NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya’s shilling was steady on Thursday, and traders said it was expected to stay in a tight band as market players traded warily anticipating the central bank would sell dollars.

At 0805 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 92.65/85, compared with 92.70/75 at Wednesday’s close.

“After the last intervention that happened on Tuesday, the market yesterday was very quiet indeed,” said a senior trader at one commercial bank.

The shilling had hit an intraday low of 92.82/92 on Tuesday but recovered after the central bank sold an unspecified amount of greenbacks to support the local currency.

“People are cautious at these levels,” said John Njenga, a trader at Commercial Bank of Africa.Traders forecast the shilling to trade in the 92.70 to 92.90 ranges in the next few days.