Kenya central bank sells dollars after rate cap weighs on shilling

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's central bank pumped dollars into the market early on Thursday, helping to lift the shilling, after it weakened on the back of President Uhuru Kenyatta's decision to approve a law capping commercial lending rates, traders said. At 0743 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 101.30/50 to the dollar, compared with Wednesday's close of 101.45/55. The currency had weakened to 101.50/60 at the start of trading in reaction to the cap on the interest banks can charge borrowers, prompting the central bank to step in, the traders said. Banking stocks on the Nairobi Securities Exchange also fell sharply at the start of trade on Thursday in reaction to the rate cap. ...........................Shilling spot rates .....................Shilling forward rates .......................Cross rates ..................................Local contributors .......................Central Bank of Kenya Index .....................Kenyan Bonds contributor pages ...............Treasury bill yields ..................Central bank open market operations .........................Horizontal repo transactions ,................Daily interbank lending rate .............................Kenya Bond pricing ..................Real time Africa economic data ...........................African economic news .................................NSE-20 Share Index .................................NSE-25 Share Index .................................NSE All Share Index ...........................FT NSE Kenya 15 Index .......................... FT NSE Kenya 25 Index SPEED GUIDES: (Reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Duncan Miriri)