Sunday January 2, 2000 8:51 a.m. EST All Smooth as Middle East Stock Exchanges Open New Year

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Banks and stock exchanges across the Middle East opened Sunday for the first time this year and reported no signs of Y2K computer problems.

In Israel, where banks and markets were closed, government agencies and businesses said there no Y2K malfunctions on the first business day of 2000. As in many countries, the government's Y2K monitoring center was closed early Sunday because ``there was no reason'' to keep it open, said Efraim Lapid, an administration spokesman.

The stock markets in Kuwait, Cairo and Alexandria were among the first in the world to open in 2000.

The Egyptian markets and the banks carried out mock trading Saturday to test the transition. Egypt declared Saturday it had successfully bypassed any Y2K bug-related problems and that all major services - electricity, telephones and other utilities - were operating normally across the country.

``The Central Bank (of Egypt) has received reports from 50 banks working in the country that all banking operations were carried out Sunday normally and with no problems,'' Egypt's Middle East News Agency quoted Mahmoud Abu el-Oyoun, the bank's deputy governor, as saying.

In Kuwait, where the exchange is considered one of the most active in the Arab world, officials had worked on potential Y2K problems for a year.

Safaak al-Rukeibi, deputy general manager of the market, told the Kuwait News Agency that ``all trading operations were normal and there were no problems whatsoever.''

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), January 02, 2000

Answers

Thanks OG. Hope this is true. Looks like a good sign, perhaps another hurdle will be passed. I wish I could be confident that our market was not over valued as we go into tomorrow morning. If these sorts of reports keep coming in, the market will likely go bonkers tomorrow. More little old ladies will take their money out of retirement funds and dump it into the market... Gold might take a plunge tomorrow. Might be a good time to buy a few ounces on the cheap. Never have before.

Still waiting

-- Michael Erskine (Osiris@urbanna.net), January 02, 2000.