Bourse gains EGP 3.6bn, index up 2 pct

The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) indices continued their upward trend on Thursday, backed by intensive purchases by institutions, foreign investment funds and after the US Federal Reserve's decision to rise the range of its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to between 0.25 percent and 0.50 percent.

The market capital gained about 3.6 billion pounds to reach 420.1 billion pounds.

The EGX 30 benchmark index leapfrogged by 2.07 percent to reach 6622.7 points.

The broader EGX 70 index of the leading smaller and mid cap enterprises (SME) went up by 0.22 percent to 359.95 points.

The all-embracing EGX 100 index also increased by 0.51 percent to close at 755.54 points.