Egypt's stock market rallied on its first trading day since Mohammed Morsi, the country's first democratically elected president and a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood, was sworn in.
For every stock that declined, nine advanced - with investors comforted by a lull in protests to allow enough time for the president, who was sworn in on Saturday, to begin dealing with the country's political and economic challenges.
"Egyptians have called off protests in Tahrir [Square in Cairo] for about a week to try and give the president time to resolve issues," said Marwan Shurrab, the chief trader at the asset manager Gulfmena Investments in Dubai. "This reduces the tension and spotlight on any kind of irregularities in the country that could harm the economy." The EGX 30 Index rose 5 per cent to 4,944.73.
"The stocks rallied from where they sold off before. We need to keep everything in perspective," Mr Shurrab said. "The market has shed aggressively and now it's on its road to recovery."
The Dubai Financial Market General Index crept up 0.1 per cent to 1,464.57, while the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index was little changed, down 0.07 per cent, to 2,458.35.
Elsewhere in the region, Kuwait's measure rose 0.4 per cent to 5,878.76.
Bahrain's index was little changed, up 0.07 per cent to 1,121.11. Oman's MSM 30 Index declined 0.7 per cent to 5,621.89. Qatar's QE Index slipped 0.1 per cent to 8,197.09.
The Saudi Tadawul All-Share Index moved TK per cent to TK.
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