Egypt\u2019s bourse is expected to stabilise after President Mohamed Mursi cancelled a decree that gave him sweeping powers and sparked deadly violence.<\/p>\n
Mursi however did not delay Saturday\u2019s referendum on a new constitution as his opponents had demanded.<\/p>\n
A new decree outlined steps for setting up an assembly to draft a new constitution should the current draft be rejected in the referendum on December 15, Reuters reports.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe outcome of talks with opposition was positive \u2013 for the short-term, we\u2019re not going into the worst case scenario and that\u2019s good,\u201d says Ali Adou, portfolio manager at The National Investor. \u201cMursi will sit with opposition and find ways towards national unity. We are now going into a three to six months period of legal change and there will be bumps ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cairo\u2019s benchmark index tumbled on Thursday after clashes between political parties killed five, taking losses to 11 percent since Mursi awarded himself extraordinary powers in a decree on November 22.<\/p>\n
In Doha, telecom operator Qtel will be in focus after the firm hired JP Morgan Chase to advise on a potential bid for Vivendi\u2019s Maroc Telecom.<\/p>\n
In Saudi Arabia, telecom operator Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) may see some relief buying after it resumed pre-paid SIM card sales after a two-week suspension by the regulator over provisioning requirements.<\/p>\n
Kuwait\u2019s Burgan Bank received approval from Turkey\u2019s banking regulator for its planned purchase of Eurobank\u2019s Turkish arm, Kuwait\u2019s state news agency reported on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, global shares rose modestly on Friday after a surprisingly strong US jobs report for November was tempered by a drop in American consumer sentiment amid a lack of progress in talks to avert the \u201cfiscal cliff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brent crude settled 1 cent lower on the day at US$107.02 per barrel, bringing weekly losses for the global benchmark crude to nearly 4 percent.<\/p>\n