Kenya shilling firm against dollar for 3rd straight session

NAIROBI, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The Kenyan shilling held firm against the U.S. dollar for the third consecutive trading session on Tuesday helped by low dollar demand.

The local unit traded against the dollar at an average of 101.00, where it ended on Monday and last week on Friday.

The Central Bank of Kenya quoted the shilling at 100.99 in the Tuesday trading, a small rise from 101.00 in the Monday session.

Similarly, commercial banks placed the shilling at between 100.90 and 101.00 per dollar, with the margins remaining unchanged.

Currency traders attributed the firmness of the shilling to low demand for the dollar from retail importers and a tight dollar liquidity in the market.

Against the British Pound, the shilling weakened to stand at 142.75 from at 142.42 in the trading on Monday.

Analysts at Cytonn, a Nairobi-based investment firm, noted the shilling would remain stable against the dollar in the short-term, supported by a tight liquidity and high forex reserves, standing at 8.8 billion dollars. Enditem