Egypt: suspended trading hits brokers | beyondbrics – FT.com

After more than five weeks, it’s still unclear when Egypt’s stock exchange (pictured) will reopen. Trading was suspended on January 27, two days after the start of the protests which brought down the regime of Hosni Mubarak. Several reopening dates were set by officials,then missed.

The main reason, analysts speculate, is that the government expects the market toplummet as soon as it reopens. In the meantime, there’s frustration.

According to one brokerage executive in a major firm, the market’s closure is less of a problem for locals than for foreigners. He told beyondbrics:

The impact is being felt internationally more than locally. Those who live here, as long as the market is not going down, they are not feeling the problem.

For brokerages like us who have not been working for a month and half, this is a disaster. We are under a lot of pressure from our international investors.