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Market Report: Wednesday's session ends in red on Palm Hills sour note After an Egyptian court verdict scraps one Palm Hills contract, other heavy-weighted shares sink as shareholders await probes into developer's dealings
The market maintained a negative downturn in Wednesday's trading session, with the EGX30 falling by 0.32 per cent to end at 4,973 points. ‘People are watching the last 48 trading hours in April, so they are afraid of any decision, especially between holidays … They don't know what will happen' says Wael El-Nahas, a financial analyst. The broader EGX70 and EGX100 are also down 0.57 per cent and 0.40 per cent respectively. "Individuals' net buying of LE11.3 million couldn't save the market, as they turned away from leading shares," El-Nahasadded. Of 180 listed stocks, only 58 amassed gains, with four sectors closing in the green: telecoms, chemicals, industrial goods and construction.Total turnover reached LE327.2 million, which was better than Tuesday's session, but still weak. Foreigners remained net sellers of LE21.6 millionwith activity of 34 per cent. Heavy-weighted Palm Hills was up 1.6 per cent, defying Tuesday's court verdict scrapping the sale contract of two per cent of its land bank. "Palm Hills shareholders feel more stability after the dispute ended by a verdict," El-Nahas commented. Palm Hills said Wednesday it plans to appeal the court verdict.The company is confident that it will keep the land in dispute, and offered to raise the deal's price. Egypt's Stock Exchange suspended trading in Palm Hills shares Wednesday, requesting information, but decided to resume trading at 11:00am as the company responded to its inquiries. Meanwhile, TMG and Sodic — both developers, like Palm Hills —declined by 3.3 per cent, 1.1 per cent respectively. "Real estate developers involved in corruption cases may face the same penalty as Palm Hills," said El-Nahas, adding that traders are cautious. Elsewhere, CI Capital edged up 2.8 per cent, unlike EFG-Hermes which saw a fresh plunge of 3.6 per cent. The three shares of El-Ezz Group ended on negative territory headed by Al-Dekhela (down 2.3 per cent). Egypt Telecom reached a 0.18 per cent high despite the resignation of Tarek Tantawy, the company's CEO and managing director.
