Egypt stock exchange jumps on Mohamed Morsi ousting

Egypt stock exchange has leapt higher after the ousting of Mohamed Morsi as the country’s president.

Stocks in Cairo rose by 7% on Thursday, their largest one-day percentage gain in over a year.

Traders are hoping that Egypt’s prospects will improve in the absence of Mohamed Morsi, even though the country’s battered economy remains in crisis.

Some analysts said a long-stalled loan from the IMF may now be possible, although others remained skeptical.

“The technocrats will know how to deal with institutions – they will help the country financially because they have a clear agenda,” said Sebastien Henin, portfolio manager at The National Investor, an Abu Dhabi-based investment firm.

“There will be a definitive change to the business environment for international and domestic investors,” he added.

However, for Dina Ahmad, a strategist at BNP Paribas, the initial optimism shouldn’t be overplayed.

“While essentially this takes Egypt back to square one and delays any chance of economic progress and an IMF deal even further, we think that ultimately it creates a window of opportunity for a more stable government to be put in place,” she said.

This window of opportunity brought about by the protests that saw Mohamed Morsi removed from office has, at least in part, been created by the Egypt’s dire economic performance over the past two years.