The Egyptian Exchange’s (EGX) market capitalisation stood at EGP 564.894bn at the close of Sunday trading, gaining about EGP 9.5bn.
In the first trading session in the Muslim’s holy month of Ramadan, Egypt’s blue-chip index EGX30 advanced 2.54% to close at 10,377 points, the EGX70 EWI surged 3.39% to close at 1,184 points, and the broader index EGX100 gained 2.29% to close at 1,120 points.
While the equally weighted index EGX50 hiked by 3.63% to close at 1,595 points. On the other hand, the Nile Index rose 0.42% to close at 707 points. This comes as Egypt eased its coronavirus lockdown for the Ramadan, as the curfew will start at 21:00 instead of the previous 20:00 and run until 06:00, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced last Thursday.
Similarly, Gulf stock markets rose on Sunday, led by gains in bank shares, as some coronavirus restrictions are eased during Ramadan.
Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index increased 2.4%, following King Salman’s order to limit curfew across the kingdom to be from 09:00 to 17:00, starting Sunday through Wednesday, 13 May. However, Mecca will remain under a 24-hour curfew, state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Sunday.
In Saudi Arabia, 1,223 new COVID-19 infections were registered on Sunday, bringing the total number to 17,522, while the death toll increased by 3 to 139 in the kingdom.
The United Arab Emirates was no exception to lockdown ease in the region, as Dubai decided to reopen coffee shops, restaurants, shopping centres partially from 12:00 to 22:00. Accordingly, Dubai, the main index traded 1.9% higher, while Abu Dhabi index was up 2.1%.
According to the Dubai media office, public transportation will resume on 26 April.
As the first among the Gulf countries to report COVID-19 cases, the UAE announced Sunday 536 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number in the country to 10,349.
The coronavirus pandemic is roiling global financial markets. Investors continued to eye coronavirus developments, with the pandemic at the heart of the current weakness in the global economy and financial markets.
