The Egyptian pound strengthened marginally at a central bank dollar sale and on the black market on Thursday after hitting a six-month low a day earlier. The central bank said it sold dollars at a cut-off price of LE6.9651, leaving the pound slightly stronger than Wednesday's rate of LE6.9652. The rates banks are allowed to trade dollars at is determined by set ranges around the results of the regular central bank dollar sales, giving the central bank effective control over rates in the official market. Banks sold the dollar for as much as LE6.9751 on Thursday, the same rate as on Wednesday when it hit its weakest rate since September. The dollar on the black market traded at LE7.43/46 on Thursday after being sold in a range between LE7.47 and LE7.49 pounds on Wednesday, according to market participants. The central bank sold $39.6 million on Thursday, it said. It had offered $40 million. Egypt's foreign currency reserves reached $17.414 billion in March. This compares with $17.307 billion in February and $36 billion before the uprising that led to the ouster President Hosni Mubarak in 2011. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/98747.aspx