Egypt’s shares close up 1.2pct

Egypt’s stocks continue its rise following the president new constitutional declaration as the main index closed up 1.2 per cent on Tuesday recording 5.110.53 points. The broader index also saw gains of 0.6 per cent. Of 165 listed stocks, 108 rose and merely 42 declined in a session that saw a daily turnover of LE361 million. Egyptian stocks saw solid climbs on Monday as institutional investors appeared to take heart from President Mohamed Morsi’s decision to assume legislative powers and retire the country’s two top generals. The benchmark EGX30 rose 1.51% to close out the session at 5,046 points. Resurgent buying by Egyptian and other Arab investors sent turnover to a recent high of LE440.8 million ($72.5m). On Sunday afternoon, Morsi announced the termination of mid-June’s military council-issued constitutional addendum, handing himself legislative powers until the election of a new parliament and seemingly ending the Egyptian military’s political dominance. Morsi also replaced Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi, the military council’s head and Egypt’s minister of defence, and army chief of staff Sami Enan. “We expected some surprise among investors after the president’s new decisions,” said Eissa Fathy, head of securities at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce, noting the strong performance of heavyweight stocks. Meanwhile Minister of Finance Momtaz El-Saeed announced on Tuesday that the World Bank approved a $200 million loan to fund Egypt’s small and medium entrepreneurs (SMEs) through the Social Development Fund. El-Saeed and World Bank Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa Inger Andersen worked out the deal, which is the first World Bank loan under the recently-elected President Mohamed Morsi. The Muslim Brotherhood candidate won in June, a year and a half after Egypt’s revolution began and ousted then-president Hosni Mubarak. The International Monetary Fund is also expected to give Egypt a $3.2 million loan.