Egypt's main index experienced a slump on Sunday as investors sought to cash in a day after the swearing-in of Egypt's new caretaker government. The EGX30 dropped 0.64 percent to alight at 8,076 points as Egyptian investors net-sold LE35.6 million worth of shares at the start of the trading week, a session which recorded LE900 million in turnover of listed stocks A new cabinet was sworn in on Saturday under the leadership of new Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb, after a surprise ministerial reshuffle last week in which 15 ministers resigned, including former prime minister Hazem El-Beblawy. The main index on Thursday rose 1.61 percent, buoyed by news of the revamped interim cabinet and its inclusion of popular military strongman Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi in his post as defense minister. ''With the positive effect of the new government's completion having already been felt on Thursday, investors are now focused on profit-taking,'' Issa Fathy, vice president of the securities division at Cairo's Chamber of Commerce, told Ahram Online. The majority of EGX30 stocks were in the red on Sunday, with real estate shares TMG Holding and Palm Hills Development Company falling 1.12 percent and 1.17 percent, respectively, to trade at LE7.97 and LE3.39 per share. Property share Six of October Development and Investment Company (SODIC) dropped 1.12 percent to trade at LE24.84 per share. Global Telecom Holding fell 1.41 percent to trade at LE4.90. Metallurgical giant Ezz Steel saw its share price drop 1.22 percent to LE17.88 per share. Market bellwether Commercial International Bank (CIB) was nonetheless up 0.52 percent to trade at Le36.80 per share in a session in which Arab and other foreign investors were net-buyers. Orascom Telecom Media and Technology Holding (OTMT) rose 1.47 percent to LE1.38 a share, achieving the highest turnover in the EGX30 of LE144.9 million, alongside other smaller stocks such as Amer Group Holdings. The broader EGX70 inched up 0.15 percent. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/95667.aspx
