CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on the Egyptian pound edged up in quiet trade to 8.4 percent on Tuesday from Monday s average of 8.318 percent as traders awaited the result of a central bank auction of 7-day notes, dealers said. The central bank offered notes worth LE 7.1 billion ($1.2 billion). Traders said they were also waiting for an unconfirmed auction of notes on Wednesday. "The market is stable because banks are waiting for the results of the auction of CBE notes, a trader said. "We ve heard there is an auction tomorrow, but it s unconfirmed, another trader said. Only three out of 14 banks contacted by Reuters had dealt overnight, citing rates at 8.35 and 8.4 percent, compared to a range of between 8.3 and 8.65 percent on Monday. One trader said the value of maturing government instruments outweighed the central bank note auction, which dampened demand for cash. One bank had dealt one-week money at 8.6 percent, compared to two deals on Monday at 8.6 and 8.65 percent. At 11:00 GMT on the foreign exchange market, the pound was unchanged against the dollar from Monday s closing weighted average at 5.7337 to the dollar. Reuters
