Market News

NAIROBI, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Kenya's shilling, Ghana's cedi and Zambia's kwacha are expected to lose ground in the next week to Thursday, while the Ugandan shilling could strengthen, traders said.

KENYA

The Kenyan shilling KES= is seen falling on increased demand for dollars from the energy and manufacturing sectors.

Commercial banks quoted the shilling at 152.15/35 per dollar, compared with last Thursday's closing rate of 151.40/60. The shilling hit a new record low on Thursday, LSEG data showed.

"Demand remains present. Energy and manufacturing are in the market. ... All indications remain in place for a weaker shilling for the remainder of the year," a trader said.

GHANA

Ghana's cedi GHS= is expected to come under pressure next week due to tight dollar supply and increased demand from importers as Christmas approaches.

LSEG data showed the cedi at 11.92 to the dollar, compared to 11.90 at last Thursday's close.

"The local unit faced some minor headwinds in the past week as FX liquidity thinned. The outlook for the coming week is largely the same, with liquidity expected to remain tight," Sedem Dornoo, senior trader at Absa Bank Ghana, said.

"Demand for the dollar is growing as traders stock up for the festive season. We expect the pressure on the cedi to continue until the dollar supply situation improves," another trader added.

ZAMBIA

Zambia's kwacha ZMW= is likely to remain vulnerable to further losses as hard-currency inflows remain low.

On Thursday the local branch of South African banking group Absa quoted the Zambian currency at 23.28 per dollar from 22.75 a week ago.

Zambia's central bank on Wednesday offloaded $19.5 million onto the market to help satiate foreign-currency demand from oil-marketing companies, Access Bank said.

UGANDA

The Ugandan shilling UGX= is expected to strengthen in the coming days, underpinned by inflows of hard currency from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and remittances from Ugandans working abroad.

On Thursday commercial banks quoted the shilling at 3,775/3,785 to the dollar, compared to last Thursday's close of 3,760/3,770.

"The market is receiving healthy remittance flows and also NGOs are conducting significant conversions," said an independent foreign exchange trader in the capital Kampala.

Reproting by George Obulutsa, Christian Akorlie, Elias Biryabarema and Chris Mfula Editing by Alexander Winning)