The shilling strengthened further versus the greenback in yesterday’s trade on account of abated dollar demand.
The local currency’s march north was sound throughout the session on the back of increased foreign currency inflows with importers staying on the sidelines.
Today, the current trading ranges continue to be mainly flow driven with fundamentals taking a back seat in the interim.
Dollar’s mixed performance
The U.S dollar was mixed, up against European and safehaven rivals, and down against commodity-linked currencies.
On the data front, Industrial Production contracted by 0.1% in March from a month earlier, while the Capacity Utilization Rate eased to 78.8% in the same period, both figures missing the market’s expectations.
The pound fell to 1.3049 on Brexit uncertainty despite Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn denying a report that Brexit talks with Prime Minister Theresa May’s government had stalled.
The euro dipped to $1.1286 as better-than-expected euro zone economic sentiment data was offset by reports European Central Bank members are uncertain over whether the trading bloc will mount an economic recovery in the second half of the year.
