EGX rallies for 3rd day, benchmark breaches 13,000 resistance level

CAIRO – 25 May 2017: The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) indexes extended its rally for a third straight session by the close of Thursday, pushed by an investor bullish sentiment and big volumes.

The hike comes after stocks rebounded from a heavy slip Monday, hammered by the Central Bank’s unpredicted decision late Sunday to raise interest rates 200 basis points.

The benchmark EGX30 index jumped 1.63 percent, to end above the 13,000- barrier at 13,094 points. CIB, the index heaviest constituent surged 3.01 percent to LE 79.5 ($4.37) per share up from at LE 77.18 ($4.26) yesterday.

The EGX70 rose 0.5 percent to end at 589 points. Further, the all-embracing EGX100 index also climbed 0.94 percent to end at 1,385 points.

Market capitalization gained around LE 6.3 billion ($314.9 million) totaling LE 670.9 billion. The market turnover amounted to LE 1.01 billion and foreign traders were the sole net buyers.

In a surprise move on Sunday evening, the CBE decided to surge its overnight deposit rate to 16.75 percent from 14.75 percent and its overnight lending rate to 17.75 from 15.75 percent. This was the first similar action since the CBE raised the rates by 300 basis points the same day it free-floated the pound on November 3.