NAIROBI (Reuters) - The Kenyan shilling gained against the dollar on Wednesday as banks sold dollars in anticipation that the central bank will mop up liquidity further, but traders said dollar demand from corporates to meet end-month needs could weigh. The Central Bank of Kenya has mopped up a total of 25.6 billion shillings through repos and sold hard currencies to commercial banks this month, helping to stem the fall in the shilling, which is down 0.6 percent this year. At 0751 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 85.60/80 against the dollar, stronger than Tuesday close of 85.80/86.00. "Lack of dollar demand and anticipation of shilling mop-ups by authorities has helped it firm," said Kennedy Butiko, deputy head of Treasury at Bank of Africa. "As we come to end-month, there must be some underlying dollar demand that will keep the gains in check." Traders said they expected the shilling to play in the 85.50-86.50 range in coming days. They said the market was still watching for any sign of public or political reaction after the International Criminal Court confirmed cases on crimes against humanity during post-election violence in 2007/08. "The market is keen on reactions to the ICC ruling on Monday for any negative events that could affect the shilling," said a trader with one commercial bank. Central bank has maintained the tightening stance and that will support the shilling the local going forward."

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