The Egyptian Exchange’s benchmark index rose 1.09 percent on Tuesday, with the broader EGX70 index rising 0.41 percent, as speculators took advantage of low share prices.

The modest gains are “simply part of the sideways trend after the past week’s dramatic drop as speculators seek to benefit from discounted prices” Osama Mourad, an independent analyst and former chief executive of Arab Finance Brokerage told Ahram Online.

The index has dropped over 8 percent since the beginning of last week, during which it hit a one-year low.  The plunge was due to investor fears of planned anti-government protests on 30 June, Investment Minister Yehia Hamed said at a press conference on Tuesday.

“But the limited trade volume indicates the absence of buyers, which are essential to recoup the recent losses” adds Mourad.  “We have not reached the bottom yet.”

Egyptian investors were net sellers on Tuesday, unloading a net LE15.3 worth of shares unto foreign buyers in a session which saw a turnover of LE133 millions worth of listed stocks.

The minister also announced that the search was ongoing for potential candidates to replace Stock Exchange head Mohamed Omran and Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority head Ashraf El-Sharkawy, whose terms expire at the end of this month.

Many of the EGX30 main index shares were gainers, including Commercial International Bank, which rose 1.69 percent, and Orascom Construction Industries, which rose 0.84 percent.

Orascom Telecom gained 1.53 percent. Real estate stocks Six of October Development & Investment, Palm Hills Development Company, and TMG Holding rose 1.62 percent, 0.63 percent, and 1.29 percent, respectively.

The exchange elected its new board of directors on Monday for the period 2013-2017.