* High end-month dollar demand weighs on shilling * Offshore investors profit-take on dollar positions * Tea inflows expected to support shilling NAIROBI, Nov 23 (Reuters) - The Kenyan shilling broke a five-day rally on Wednesday, weakening 0.4 percent against the dollar on greenback demand fuelled by profit-taking, but anticipated inflows from the tea sector were seen supporting the local currency. Kenya's central bank changed another key policy aim by almost-doubling this fiscal year's inflation target to 9 percent, just weeks after being driven to make a huge rate rise to combat soaring inflation and save the plunging shilling. But currency traders said the new numbers came as no surprise to the market which had already factored the double digit rate of inflation -- 18.9 percent in October -- and the outlook into prices. "The market did not react. I can only assumed that they (central bank) have realised that it might take them slightly longer to come back within the original 7-3 percent range," said Ignatius Chicha head of markets at Citibank. Instead, profit-taking on the shilling once it breached the key psychological level of 90 was blamed for the slide. The shilling fell to an all-time low of 107 against the dollar on Oct 11, leaving it down 25 percent against the greenback at the time. After a crisis of confidence making in Kenya's policymaking had hammered the market, the central bank stepped in, raising its key lending rate by 9.5 percentage points since early October. The huge move drove up overnight borrowing costs, triggered an acute liquidity crunch as banks chased scarce shillings and helped cut commercial banks' demand for hard currency, spurring the rally in the local currency. At 0700 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 90.30/50 to the U.S. currency, weaker than Tuesday's close of 89.90/90.10. "We have seen end-month demand from oil, energy, corporate and manufacturing because the dollar is at a good rate, to cover their obligations," Sameer Lagadia, head of trading at Diamond Trust Bank, told Reuters. Lagadia said some banks were also short-covering on their dollar positions, further putting pressure on the shilling. Many banks have been forced to sell dollars to fund shilling positions due to a severe liquidity crunch in the market. The Central Bank of Kenya has held a tight monetary policy stance geared towards taming double digit inflation and currency volatility, sending the interbank average lending rate to 30.6 percent on Tuesday. "We have seen a bit of offshore participation ... some of them are taking profits on their short dollar positions," one trader said. Traders said dollar inflows from the tea sector were expected during the session.

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