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Market Report: SCAF's firm hand buttresses market EGX30 climbs half percentage point on back of military council's assurances that situation at Cabinet is under control
Egypt's benchmark EGX30 index rebounded by 0.5 per cent on Monday to close the day in the green, alighting at 3,802 points as investors were slightly reassured by an afternoon press conference held by Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) following four days of clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters outside the Cabinet building in downtown Cairo. "The military's efforts to secure public property, stop protesters and halt clashes between the two sides have cheered investors," market expert Issa Fathy told Ahram Online. "The SCAF now appears firmly in control of the situation." Fathy added that Egypt's stock exchange was “used to seeing rebounds in the wake of sharp declines” due to the attractively low prices on offer. Broader stock indices also rose slightly for the day, with the EGX70 and EGX100 surging by 1 and 0.7 per cent respectively. Out of 171 stocks listed on the exchange, 110 gained value and 36 declined in a daily session that saw a total of LE151.8 million in turnover. Foreign investors represented the session's net sellers at LE24.6 million, while local investors were net buyers – as usual – at LE23.5 million. "The Egyptian bourse is now well used to seeing foreign investors as sellers, so we look for domestic purchasers who can balance out the market," said Fathy. Most blue chips rose for the day led by Commercial International Bank (CIB) and Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), shares of which gained 0.5 and 1 per cent, respectively. EFG-Hermes also managed to shake off recent losses, with shares in the finance giant rising by 1.4 per cent for the day. Talaat Mustafa Group (TMG), meanwhile, dominated the real estate sector, with its shares gaining 0.3 per cent for the day, while those of its rival, SODIC – which was among the day's top losers – tumbled 3 per cent. The telecoms sector was the day's poorest performer, despite a 0.3 per cent rise for Telecom Egypt. Stock in bellwether Mobinil, meanwhile, fell by 0.8 per cent for the day. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/29744.aspx
