Shilling little changed, stuck in a range

NAIROBI, Kenya: The shilling barely moved on Thursday in thin trading volumes and is expected to stay in a range against the dollar for the next few days, traders said, partly due to the absence of any significant economic data.
   
At 0801 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 87.75/85 to the dollar amid thin volumes, compared with Wednesday's close of 87.80/90.

Duncan Kinuthia, head of trading at Commercial Bank of Africa, said the shilling could tighten slightly as investors are expected to square their long dollar positions ahead of the weekend.
   
"We could see a bit of a gain on the local currency," Kinuthia said, adding that the shilling is likely to trade in a range between 87.20-88 over the coming week.

The shilling has lost 1.25 percent versus the dollar so far this year.

The currency's direction could be influenced by the outcome of planned political rallies over the next week by President Uhuru Kenyatta's Jubilee coalition and the opposition CORD coalition.

"For the time being it looks like the markets have already priced that in," Kinuthia said, "However if sudden pronouncements are made or we have riots or any sort of violence, that obviously could impact the currency negatively," he said.