Kenya shilling holds steady vs dlr

NAIROBI, May 16 (Reuters) - The Kenya shilling <KES=> was
stable against the dollar due to sustained demand for the
greenback by importers, dealers said.

At 0845 GMT leading commercial banks posted the local unit
at 61.90/62.00 to the dollar, the same level it closed
Thursday's session.

Dealers said the local currency had weakened to 62.15/25
soon after the session opened, but profit-taking by interbank
players helped it regain the lost ground.

"The demand that we saw yesterday from importers in
different sectors continued today," said Chris Muthoka, a senior
dealer at Citibank.

He said the market was anticipating the demand to be
sustained to the end of the month.

Robert Gatobu, a dealer at Bank of Africa said that whenever
the rate rose above the 62.00 level, the market saw plenty of
seller interest.

Demand increased at below the 61.70 level, he said.

The local unit firmed in recent weeks as the market took
positions ahead of expected inflows from a 25 percent flotation
of mobile phone firm Safaricom [SCOM.NR], in what is shaping up
as sub-Saharan Africa's biggest IPO.

Traders said that they were expecting inflows from the sale
next week and therefore foresaw a strong shilling.

They predicted the shilling will trade at 61.75-62.35 in the
coming days.

<KES=> <KES1=>............Shilling spot rates

<KESF=>...............Shilling forward rates

<EURKES=> <KESX=>.Cross rates

<KE/CONT1=>............All Kenya Contributors

CBKINDEX........Central Bank of Kenya Index

<KE/DEBT>......Kenyan Bonds contributor pages

CBK03 CBK06 <KE3MTB=>.Treasury bill yields

<KEIBR=>,CBK02..Daily interbank lending rate

<0#KETSY=>...Kenya Bond pricing

SPEED GUIDES: REUTERS <KES/1> <KE/DEBT> MONEY
(Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Gerrard Raven)