Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the general who toppled Egypt's first freely elected leader, took more than 90 percent of the vote in a presidential election, provisional results showed on Thursday, as he joined a long line of leaders drawn from the military.

Sisi won 93.3 percent of votes cast, judicial sources said, as counting neared its conclusion after three days of voting. His only rival, leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi, gained 3 percent while 3.7 percent of votes were declared void.

Turnout was 44.4 percent of Egypt's 54 million voters, judicial sources said, less than the 40 million votes, or 80 percent of the electorate, that Sisi had called for last week and also less than the 52 percent turnout Mursi won in 2012.

"We are now divided with the turnout," said Tarek Awad, 27 and unemployed, celebrating Sisi's victory in Tahrir on Thursday morning. "If about half of voters wanted Sisi, the other half don't want him. What about them?"

The stock market .EGX30, which fell 2.3 percent on Wednesday as some players said the turnout was a disappointment, was down a further 0.9 percent by late morning on Thursday. On the black market, the Egyptian pound weakened slightly.

Mohamed El Sewedy, chairman of the Federation of Egyptian Industries, said, however: "The business community is very happy about the results. My friends and I have a lot of hope.”

Others saw the stability offered by Sisi as important.

"Everybody just wants some form of stability against which you can decide what to invest. When there's stability it makes risk assessment much easier," said Angus Blair, chairman of business and economic forecasting think-tank Signet.

Most Egyptian newspapers celebrated the result, with state-run Al-Akhbar calling it "a day of hope for all Egyptians".

Fireworks erupted in Cairo to celebrate Sisi's victory late on Wednesday. His supporters waved Egyptian flags and sounded car horns as celebrations lasted through the early hours of the morning.

About 1,000 people gathered in Tahrir Square, the symbolic heart of the popular uprising that toppled Mubarak in 2011 and raised hopes of a democracy free of influence from the military.

As Egyptians traveled to work, there were only a handful of Sisi supporters left in Tahrir.

Sisi, who ousted Mursi last year after mass protests against his rule, is seen by supporters as a strong figure who can end the turmoil that has convulsed Egypt for three years since the revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak after 30 years in power.

Critics fear Sisi will become another autocrat who will preserve the army's interests and quash hopes of democracy and reform.

Sisi enjoys the backing of the powerful armed forces and the Interior Ministry, as well many politicians and former Mubarak officials now making a comeback.

"This is the best possible result. He is from the army, so he knows Egypt," Yeshiva Hassan, a vendor selling radios on a downtown Cairo street, said.

TOUGH MEASURES

But the former military intelligence chief may not have the popular mandate to take the tough measures needed to restore healthy economic growth, ease poverty and unemployment, and end costly energy subsidies in the most populous Arab nation.

In a country polarized since the revolt against Mubarak, many Egyptians said voters had stayed at home due to political apathy, opposition to another military man becoming president, discontent at suppression of freedoms among liberal youth, and calls for a boycott by Islamists.

Horsham Moans, Sabahi's campaign manager, questioned the legitimacy of the vote, saying there had been violations.

"Until yesterday turnout was much lower than what was announced today. Did the percentage suddenly reach 46 percent?"

An editorial in state-run Al-Ah ram newspaper called for "a serious and real pause" to review the past three days' events.

"The behavior and style of some almost corrupted the image and contributed to the impression that what happened did not follow the conditions of a proper democratic process or fair competition", it said.

The United States, Egypt's ally in the West, has yet to comment on Sisi's victory.