Mubarak’s Exit Lifts U.S. Stocks

As Egypt settles into a cautious detente, stock markets around the world recover from their Jan 25 dip. As Mubarak ceded the presidency Friday, all three New York Stock Exchange indices and NASDAQ saw modest lifts. As stability is restored, people are more confident making investments.

Egypt’s own market has yet to recover. Mubarak dithered in office, first announcing that he would remain in place as a “figurehead,” then claiming that he would stay til the end of the summer.

Mubarak finally stepped down Friday afternoon, leaving Egypt in military hands while the government regroups. The Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs has frozen Mubarak’s Swiss bank accounts and the funds that belong to “his circles” to avoid any risk of “embezzlement of state property” pending a resolution in Egypt.