Egypt's stock market has ended this week posting gains of EGP 2 billion powered by the bourse chief's current visit to the United States that seeks to expel the investors' woes over the stamp tax on the daily transactions and the MSCI potential exclusion. Dr. Mohamed Omran – the Chairman of the Egyptian Exchange - is currently paying a visit to the United States to meet with a number of representatives of global financial institutions seeking to encourage them to reconsider the volumes of their investments in the Egyptian market. Egypt's benchmark index EGX30 inched up 1.17% to close at 4651.76 p; while the EGX20, it surged by 1.46% to end at 5092.94 p. Meanwhile, the mid- and small-cap index, the EGX70 rose by 0.52% to conclude at 354.29 p. The price index EGX100 also pushed up by 0.66% to finish at 627.31 p. The capital market has closed at EGP 316.650 billion on Thursday. Dr. Omran spoke to Bloomberg Television late Wednesday asserting that the country has a fix for the currency issues. The Egyptian bourse chief has talked Wednesday evening about the possibility that MSCI Inc. may consider reviewing Egypt's emerging-market status and political turmoil in the country. He spoke with Trish Regan and Adam Johnson on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart." Traded Volumes & Trades Through the closing session of Thursday, the trading volume reached 68.130 million securities. For the traded value, it reached EGP 172.203 million, exchanged through 12.967 thousand transactions. Also during the closing session of Thursday, 158 listed securities have been traded in; 51 declined, 80 advanced; while 27 keeping their previous levels. Investors' Activity The non-Arab foreigners and Arabs' buying transaction have backed EGX's closing gains as they were net buyers seizing 24.24% and 5.96% respectively, of the total markets, with a net equity of EGP 42.739 million and 4.788 million excluding the deals. Meanwhile, Egyptians were net sellers seizing 69.8% of the total markets, with a net equity of EGP 47.528 million, excluding the deals. Bourse Chief's Reassurance Trip: During his visit to the United States, Dr. Omran has met with representatives of around 30 global financial institutions. He has reviewed with the representatives the current situation of the Egyptian market alongside a number of pressing topics, notably the recently-imposed stamp tax on the EGX's daily selling and buying transactions as well as the potential reclassification of the MSCI Egypt Index to frontier markets. Dr. Omran has referred to the considerable efforts currently exerted by the non-profit capital market societies in an attempt to cancel the stamp tax on the EGX's dealings. The bourse chief expressed his optimism about witnessing a breakthrough in the EGX stamp tax file, noting that the Egyptian authorities have shown remarkable resilience in backing down on bank provisions tax. During his meeting with the global financial institutions representatives, Dr. Omran has stressed the privileges of making investments in Egypt, one of the most populous country in the Middle East, which enjoys promising investment opportunities with as little as possible of political stability that will gradually drive the growth rates to revive. In an interview televised by Bloomberg Television on Wednesday evening, the bourse chief has marked that the concerns of MSCI as regards problems facing foreign investors due to foreign currency crisis are somewhat exaggerated due to the imprecise data on which MSCI based its opinion.
