The Egyptian Stock Market index rebounded by the end of the Tuesday session, according to brokers who cited the Muslim Brotherhood's decision to cancel protests supporting President Mohamed Morsy's constitutional declaration as easing investors' fears.
Investors had feared possible clashes between the president's supporters and opponents., and the stock market initially declined Tuesday, with the EGX 30 index dropping 1.2 percent to 4,990 percent. However, the index later climbed up to 5,048, finishing 0.02 percent higher than Monday.
On Monday, after a major decline Sunday, the index recovered 2.6 percent, climbing to 5,047 points. It regained LE5 billion out of the LE30 billion lost in total market capitalization the day before.
Meanwhile, closures of banks and exchange offices near Tahrir Square and in the downtown area confused clients, who were forced to conduct transactions at other branches.
Chief of Suez Canal Bank Tareq Qandil decided to move workers from two branches near Tahrir and Simon Bolivar Squares and suspend work temporarily until the situation stabilizes.
Qandil told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the bank transferred the employees from those locations last week, adding that other banks in the same area took precautionary procedures to secure the employees and workers.
“Employees of the bank were distributed across the other branches located outside the downtown area,” a source from a private bank on Qasr al-Aini street said.
The move was taken two days after armed forces had erected a wall on the street to separate it from Tahrir Square.
The downtown area and Tahrir Square include several banks, including National Societe General Banque, The United Bank and Barclays Bank Egypt, which was damaged by fire last week during nearby clashes.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
