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Market Report: Glum economic outlook as political unrest pushes market down Egypt's stocks fell for the third day consecutively, the benchmark EGX30 slipping 2.38 per cent Thursday
The decline rate of Egypt's stocks increased after easing Wednesday following a speech of Prime Minister Kamal Al-Ganzouri in which he remarked on the economic situation, saying that $9 billion had flowed out of Egypt in recent months. The market, meanwhile, has been visibly affected by continuing political unrest. “Investors in the stock market don't talk anymore about the profits of companies, but about demonstrations and political unrest. That's what really affects the market these days,” says Moustafa Badra, a market expert. The benchmark EGX30 slipped by 2.38 per cent Thursday to close at 3.614 points.From the day's 175 traded stocks, 130 declined in value and just 31 gained. Practically no sector realised gains; of 17 sectors, 12 finished in the red and five remained unchanged. Of all the stocks of the EGX30, only Arab Moltaka Investments Co gained 0.12 per cent while the remaining stocks ended the day in the red. A series of losses for high-cap firms led the market downward. Big caps Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) and Telecom Egypt (TE) lost 2.9 and 2.88 per cent respectively. The broader EGX70 index fell 1.01 per cent and the EGX100 dipped by 1.56 per cent. Foreigners were net sellers in recent days. “Most of the selling was done by foreigners, which is normal in this time of the year. Sunday is Christmas and the week after is New Year; a lot of foreigners close their positions [at this time],” explains Badra. Market turnover rose slightly to reach LE 203.3 million ($33.7 million) compared to a very pale turnover of LE144.2 million ($23.9 million) Wednesday. However, levels remain very low compared to pre-revolution days.
