Egypt’s stock exchange, closed for a month because of the protests that ousted President Hosni Mubarak, will reopen on Tuesday, the cabinet said in a statement. Continuing unrest has delayed the market’s reopening several times in the last few weeks and analysts have been bracing for a possible sell-off of shares as investors flee risk when trade resumes. The market’s benchmark index fell 6.1 percent on January 26 and another 10.5 percent on January 27, the only two days of trade since the protests erupted. After meeting the stock exchange chairman and the financial regulator, Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq presented proposals to prepare for the resumption of trade, a cabinet statement said on Sunday. “This is in light of the bourse’s decision to resume trading on Tuesday, March 1, 2011,” the statement said. The bourse will suspend trade for a half hour if the benchmark index declines by 3 percent and for the remainder of the session if it falls by 6 percent, the state news agency MENA quoted the bourse head as saying. It will also suspend trade for a half hour if the broader 100-share index declines by 5 percent and the whole session if it falls by 10 percent, MENA said. MSCI said on Friday Egypt would risk being excluded from its emerging markets index if the market did not reopen before MSCI reviewed its status in four weeks. The cabinet statement said Shafiq also asked the head of the Egyptian Financial Suprvisory Authority (EFSA), Ziad Bahaa el-Din, to draw up rules to prevent financial conflicts of interest by government officials. He appointed Bahaa el-Din’s deputy, Ashraf Al Sharkawy, to take over as EFSA’s chairman in his place. The Finance Ministry will provide loans to help brokerage firms hurt by the turmoil and the bourse closure, Mohamed Abdel Salam, chairman of the stock exchange’s Clearing Settlement and Central Depositary, told state television on Sunday.
Feb282011