Egypt's stock exchange is launching a share index geared towards the most active, liquid stocks, making it easier for mutual funds to deal in Egyptian equities, Bourse officials announced on Thursday. The benchmark EGX30 index is weighted towards a handful of large stocks which represent over half of its total value while many of its smaller contributors are much more illiquid. On the new EGX20 Capped index, due to begin use when the exchange reopenson Sunday, firms will reflect their free float, not the market value of their entire share capital. The EGX30 has lost 43 per cent of its value since January's uprising as trade continues to thin. On Wednesday, the index saw its third largest loss since the market resumed on 23 March after seven weeks closure. "The new index aims at helping portfolio managers at investment funds," the exchange's chairman Mohamed Omran said. The Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) has said it would enforce a new rule that sets LE100 million as the minimum market capital for a stock to boost liquidity.
