The EGX 30 went down today following the world stock markets' reaction to tensions in the Korean peninsula. In what was a rather dynamic day, the main stock market index fell by 1.38 per cent to 6,881 points, as the trading value reached LE1.55 billion, with 116 shares declining and 55 rising. The market went down "due to the world stocks fall after tensions in the Korean peninsula," said Eslam Abdel-Atty, a financial analyst at Pioneers Securities. North Korea fired dozens of artillery shells at a South Korean island, killing two soldiers and setting houses ablaze in one of the heaviest attacks on its neighbour since the Korean War ended in 1953. The incident soured sentiment in global financial markets, which were already rattled by concerns that the Ireland rescue package may not stop the country's problems from spreading to other indebted euro zone countries. In Egypt, foreigners were net sellers, and accounted for 13.5 per cent of today's total transactions. “The local reasons did not help off-setting the World's bad news," Adds Abdel-Atty. This morning, an Egyptian court decreed that the government must implement the previous ruling, annulling the Madiniaty contract. This will lead to the revocation of the contract and to selling the project's land in a public auction – a decree that affected the biggest Egyptian real estate company, the Talat Mustafa Group. On the other hand, the rise in net profits for Orascom Construction Industries, Egypt's largest company by market capitalization share, did not positively influence the market, "which was expecting better results," according to Abdel-Atty. Of the trading in the market, individuals represented 67.33 per cent while institutions represented 32.66 per cent. All sectors closed in the red except for the food and beverage sector. The construction and real estate sector was one of the main sectors to experience a fall, along with telecommunications and financial services (banks excluded). The top gainers were Ismailia Misr Poultry and Minapharm Pharmaceuticals, while top losers were Kafr El Zayat Pesticides and Delta Sugar. In an opposite trend, the EGX 70 rose by 0.8 per cent, reaching 714 points with a trading value of LE220 million. The EGX 70 accounted for 12.7 per cent of the total market capitalization with a value of LE53 billion.
