Egypt's stock exchange will suspend trade for a half hour if its broad 100-share index declines by 5 percent after it reopens on Sunday from a two-week closure, the financial regulator said on Tuesday.
The government shut the exchange after countrywide political protests caused the benchmark index .EGX30 to plunge by 16 percent in two days, and analysts have warned of a renewed sell-off by spooked investors once trading resumes.
If the EGX100 falls by 10 percent, trade will halted until the exchange's chairman decides it should resume, the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority said in an emailed statement.
The exchange will open as usual at 10:30 am starting on Sunday but will close at 1:30 pm instead of the previous 2:30 pm.
Trade on any one share will be halted for the normal half an hour if its price falls by 10 percent and for the remainder of the trading session if it falls by 20 percent, the statement said.
The regulator said it is temporarily cancelling the posting of the normal pre-session exploratory prices before trade opens and will speed up procedures for companies seeking to buy back their own shares.
