Egypt Stocks up at Open as Sisi Officially Declared President

As ex-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was officially announced  Egypt’s president, stocks opened higher on Wednesday with gains worth 204 million. The main stock index, EGX30 also surged at early trade to near 7970 points backed by Arab investors’ buyers following the Saudi King’s invitation to the world countries to attend a donors conference to help Egypt through its economic troubles.

Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz was the first international leader to congratulate Sisi on his election victory.

Egypt’s al-Sisi won 96.9% of the votes in the country’s  recent presidential election, the Presidential Election Commission said on Tuesday, almost a year after he overthrew former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi following a mass rally. Sisi’s rival Hamdeen Sabahi won just three percent of the vote, excluding spoiled ballots.

Following the announcement of the polls results, Sisi delivered a televised statement thanking the Egyptian people, judges, the media for their roles during the electoral process. He also thanked Sabahi, his sole rival, for taking part in the election.

Egypt’s Stock Exchange (EGX) operates with shortened trading hours during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.

The exchange will be open from 10:00 to 13:30 Cairo time during Ramadan.

Meanwhile, the EGX indices were wavering in green notes during the opening session of Wednesday.

Indices

The Benchmark EGX30 went up by 0.06% to 7968.29 p, and EGX20 rose by 0.18% to 9577.03 p.

In addition, the mid- and small-cap index, the EGX70 increased by 0.43% to 567.44 p.  Price index EGX100 advanced by 0.26% to 992.48 p.

Furthermore, market capitalization reached EGP 464.318 billion, according to data compiled by Amwal Al Ghad English at 11:08 a.m. Cairo time (08:08 GMT as Egypt turned to Daylight saving time).

Trading Volumes & Values

The trading volume has recorded 28.507 million securities worth EGP 61.364 million, exchanged through 2072 transactions during Wednesday opening.

Also during the opening session, 75 listed securities have been traded in; 19 fell, 27 advanced; while 29 keeping their previous levels.

Investors’ Activities

Arab investors were net buyers at early trade on Wednesday capturing 2.1% of the total market, with a net equity of EGP 791.187 thousand, excluding the deals.

On the other hand, Egyptian and the non-Arab foreign investors were net sellers seizing 87.09% and 10.81% respectively of the total markets, with a net equity of EGP 536.472 thousand and EGP 194.714 thousand respectively, excluding the deals.