Oil sector importers weigh on shilling
* Large cap stocks drag key stocks index down
(Adds markets close, stocks)
By Kevin Mwanza
NAIROBI, May 9 (Reuters) - The Kenyan shilling fell
against the dollar on Wednesday as oil importers bought the U.S.
currency, while stocks edged down for the third straight session
due to profit-taking.
At the 1300 GMT market close, commercial banks quoted the
shilling at 83.40/50 per dollar, weaker than Tuesday's close of
83.20/40.
"We've seen dollar demand from energy and oil guys" said
Robert Gatobu, a trader at Bank of Africa.
"There's still some demand because customers have been
holding orders back for a while."
Traders said they expected the shilling to weaken to 83.75
per dollar by the end of the week due to good liquidity.
The central bank stayed out of the money market for a second
straight day after mopping up 25 billion shillings ($299.9
million) through repos since April 27.
The shilling has gained 2.2 percent so far this year,
extending a recovery from a record low of 107 per dollar hit in
October, helped by very tight monetary policy. The central bank
held its policy rate at 18 percent for a fifth month in a row
last week.
Foreign investor interest in government debt has also helped
the shilling gain this year.
The central bank sold 3.9 billion shillings of six-month and
one-year Treasury bills on Wednesday, amid heavy demand for the
4 billion shillings on offer, which sent yields tumbling.
In shares, the benchmark NSE-20 Share Index lost
0.4 percent to close at 3,585.93 points as investors continued
to take profits following a recent rally.
"The same players we saw bring the market up are dragging it
down as investors take profits," said Rufus Mwanyasia, an
analyst at Tsavo Securities.
"However, we're expecting good first quarter results
trickling in to support."
Mumias Sugar, a grower and miller of the sweetener,
shed 0.8 percent to finish at 5.60 shillings a share. The stock
rallied in April after it got a new chief executive and on
expectations of good cane production this year.
In the debt market, government bonds worth 3.1 billion
shillings were traded, up from 1.7 billion shillings on Tuesday.
The two-year bond dominated trade at a yield of 13.8 percent.
Traders said the central bank will auction a five-year bond
worth 3 billion shillings this month after yields on
short-term paper tumbled, allowing it to start issuing
longer-dated bonds.
"The central bank is trying to give long term bonds since
the rates are stable," said Mwanyasia.
...........................Shilling spot rates
.....................Shilling forward rates
.......................Cross rates
..................................Local contributors
.......................Central Bank of Kenya Index
.....................Kenyan Bonds contributor pages
...............Treasury bill yields
..................Central bank open market operations
.........................Horizontal repo transactions
, ................Daily interbank lending rate
.............................Kenya Bond pricing
..................Real time Africa economic data
<ECI & AFR> ...........................African economic news
.................................NSE-20 Share Index
.................................NSE All Share Index
...........................FT NSE Kenya 15 Index
.......................... FT NSE Kenya 25 Index
SPEED GUIDES:
($1 = 83.3500 Kenyan shillings)
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