Cairo – Mubasher: The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) has temporarily suspended trade for half an hour on Monday, 23 March, after the EGX100 index surged by more than 5%.
By 10:45 a.m. Cairo time, the benchmark index EGX30 soared by 6.71% to the 10,404-point level, while the broader index EGX100 climbed by 5.01% to 1,018 points.
Traded volumes amounted to 47.56 million shares by that time, with a total value of EGP 121 million.
Meanwhile, 82 stocks were in the green zone, 38 remained unchanged, while only three were in decline.
Analysts expect recent remarks by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi vowing more support to EGX to help the market restore gains.
El-Sisi has asked the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) yesterday to allocate EGP 20 billion to supporting EGX.
Moreover, the Egyptian government recently lowered the stamp tax, as well as energy prices for factories, in a bid to face the impacts of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic on the market.
The Egyptian president said a global pandemic of such a magnitude is unprecedented in modern history, noting that it is expected to affect the local and global economy.
Trade was suspended five times this month when EGX 100 losses exceeded 5% on the back of market fears regarding the COVID-19 outbreak.
