Egypt's main index fell by 0.8 per cent, recording 4,214.72 points on Tuesday's session after five days of gains. "After five days of gains, a correction was needed. It was a good day, despite the losses, with some profit-taking on EGX30 firms," said Issa Fathy, vice president of the securities division at Cairo's Chamber of Commerce, The new EGX20 index declined by 0.5 per cent while broader indices EGX70 and EGX100 recovered from Monday's slip, up 1 per cent and 0.3 per cent respectively. "The EGX70 reversed its performance yesterday - today it was up," said Fathy. From 178 listed stocks, 99 gained and 59 are still in the red in a session which reached a turnover of LE257.1 million. Most blue chips stepped back, headed by Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) which plunged 1.7 per cent, as well as Orascom Telecom which declined 1.5 per cent. "High-cap sales led the market down in the beginning, but they began to recover near the close of trade," Fathy commented. High-cap Commercial International Bank (CIB) fell by 1.4 per cent. Mobinil and Telecom Egypt dropped 0.2 per cent and 1 per cent respectively. "OCI and CIB - sales of these - brought their values down, and pulled the EGX30 down,"Fathy explained. Basic resources and real estate are amongst the prominent sectors that failed to fall, led by TMG, SODIC and Ezz Steel, which reached 1.1 per cent, 3.1 per cent and 2.1 per cent respectively. "As the election season builds we will gradually see the market recover too." Egyptians are the only net buyers, with LE16.5 million, while foreigners are net sellers with LE22.4 million.
