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Market Report: Egyptian wave of self-immolation hits Stock Exchange Egypt's benchmark index EGX30 dived 3 per cent to 6.696 points on mid-week session, losing 460 points in three sessions
Egypt's main index, the EGX 30, posted its biggest decline since 25 May, 2010, driven down by foreign investors' concerns about the possibility of political chaos spreading from Tunisia to other Arab countries, traders said. The index dipped 3 per cent, after losing 2.4 per cent yesterday. Turnover totaled LE1.341 billion. The head ofthe Egyptian Stock Exchange, Khaled Serry Siam, refused to stop the trading following the sharp declines. "There are no regulations to stop trading in times of selling sprees,” he commented. "Foreigners are net sellers in the market," said Mohamed Radwan of Pharos Securities. "Escalating social events in the region are just making some foreign investors bearish about the region, from a macro perspective – especially the political risk." Nationals and Arabs tended to purchase, but could not save the market. Foreign tradersrecorded aLE226.4 million sell turnover, while Nationals and Arabs recorded LE170 million and LE56 million buy/sell spread, respectively. Institutional traders went on a sale spree, dominating almost half the trading. All heavy-weights ended in the negative territory, led by Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH), which fell4.2 per cent. Commercial International Bank (CIB) also dropped, down by 3.5 per centto LE40.3. Meanwhile, Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) dipped 3 per centto LE 276. The EGX70 also sank, down 4.7 per centto 708 points, while the broader EGX100 plunged 4.2 per centto 1.134 points.
