Kenyan shilling remains largely unchanged on first day of trading after repeat election

david nganga

October 27, 2017 3:19 PM

The financial markets have been relatively calm on first day of trading after two-day presidential re-run break

The Kenyan shilling remained largely unchanged from Tuesday's close on the first day of trading after the repeat Presidential poll.

The shilling opened the session at 103.75/95 against the dollar, compared to 103.80/90 on Tuesday,but still holding at a two-month low it dropped to at the end of last week.

"We expect the shilling to trade sideways as we wait for the results this weekend. We will get the direction from next week once we get a clear view of the political situation,” said a trader at a local commercial bank.

“The election was largely peaceful and having a sitting president will give a semblance of stability for the markets,” he added.

At the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), trading was lacklustre when the market opened, with analysts attributing the low activity to the absence of foreign and institutional investors in the market.

Traders say that investors are keeping an eye on the repeat poll held on Thursday as they wait for the vote result and any reaction from the Opposition party.

Uncertainty over the presidential election wiped out over Sh227 billion in the capitalisation at the NSE since August 25 investors, mostly foreigners jolted by the political uncertainty,exited the market.

Financial markets are however expected to pick up in performance after Thursday's vote as uncertainty over the presidential repeat poll recedes.

david nganga