Main index rises above 17,600 pts early trade as Egypt c.bank cuts rates

The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) has hit record highs early Sunday on the back of the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) decision of reducing interest rate.

By 10:26 am Cairo time, the benchmark EGX30 index jumped 192.34 points, or 1.1%, to 17,642.5 points.

Last Thursday, the CBE’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has decided to reduce interest rates by 100 basis points or 1%.

The overnight deposit and lending rates stood at 16.75% and 17.75%, respectively, while the main open market rate was lowered to 17.25%.

The EGX70 index edged up 0.67% to 876.84 points, while the EGX100 index levelled up 0.9% to 2,258 points.

Likewise, the equal-weighted EGX50 index rose 1.51% to 3,031 points.

Trading volume reached nearly 132.9 million shares exchanged at a turnover of EGP 226.3 million through 4,600 transactions.

Foreign investors were net buyers with EGP 8.6 million, while Egyptian and Arab investors were net sellers with EGP 8.4 million and EGP 225,200, respectively.

The heavyweight Commercial International Bank (CIB) inched down 0.01% to EGP 89.