The EGX 30 ended today's session in the red, falling by only 0.01 per cent, at 7,201.53 points, managing not to tumble from the record levels registered last week. But market turnover went down from its past week level of above LE1 billion to LE978.8 million. The opening session price was Thursday's closing green prices, which is "why the EGX 30 took off well," said Omar Darwish, equity sales trader at CI Capital Holding Co. The EGX 30 index reached its peak at 12:30, then it began to fall ending in the red at the end of the trading session. In contrast to the EGX 30, the Dow Jones rose 2.27 per cent and the UK FTSE rose by 2.07 per cent. "Orascom Telecom was the driving force behind the uptrend in the index for the first half," Darwish continued. "As the OT price per share reached LE4.50, with large scale profits for the company." Darwish explained. "OT, as previously noted, caused the whole telecommunication sector to rise, trading 22 million shares," said Darwish. Shares of 62 companies rose, while 113 lost value. Individuals represented 63.8 per cent of trading.The banking and construction sectors were among the main losers.While the telecommunication and real estate sectors were among the top gainers. However, Ezz Steel recorded its best performance in six months, trading at LE 21 a share. Minapharm Pharmaceuticals and General Company For Land Reclamation, Development & Reconstruction was among the top five performing companies, while Suez Canal Bank and Bisco Misr, were among the top five losers. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) index fell severely,"hitting its lowest price in 10 months," according to Darwish as explanation for the large scale foreign trading today. Foreignersbought 17.7 per cent and sold 29.6 per cent, compared to Arabs who bought at 14.9 per cent and sold by 7.7 per cent. EGX 70, on the contrary performed relatively well, closing with a rise of 1.92 per cent to close at 778.96 points, with a market capitalization of LE56,950,943,578. "EXG70 reached its highest point in 10 months, by entering the 7,600 points zone again," Darwish commented.
