In a week, Egypt shares maintained a losing streak incurring losses totaled EGP 11.9 billion triggered by the recently-endorsed controversial anti-protest law. The capital market reached EGP 402.978 billion on Thursday, compared to EGP 414.911 billion a week earlier. Accordingly, the Egyptian Exchange's benchmark index EGX 30 index sank by 4.22% this week, registering a decline of 273 points, ending Thursday's transactions at 6184.11points compared to 6457 points at the end of a week earlier. The main gauge index hit its highest point on Sunday's closing at 6436.13 points, where its lowest point recorded on Thursday at 6184.11 points. Meanwhile, the mid- and small-cap index, the EGX70 pushed down by 3.35% closing at 518 points during Thursday's session, compared to 536 points at the end of a week earlier. The price index, EGX100 also dived by 3.34% concluding by 866 points during Thursday's session, against 896 points at the end of a week earlier. Turnovers & Volumes: Also in a week, the EGX has registered a decline of 36% in its turnovers to EGP 2.3 billion, compared to EGP 3.6 billion a week earlier. The volume of trades hit 707 million securities, compared to 1.011 billion securities a week earlier. Anti-Protest Law Egypt's interim president, Adly Mansour, has enacted a new protest law that rights groups say will severely curtail freedom of assembly, and could prohibit the kinds of mass demonstrations that forced presidents Hosni Mubarak and Mohamed Morsi from power. The law forces would-be protesters to seek seven separate permissions to take to the streets, and bans overnight sit-ins such as theTahrir Square protests of early 2011. Activists will have to go to court to appeal against any rejected applications – a restriction lawyers argue will render legal demonstration almost impossible. The law also bans any unsanctioned gatherings – either in public or in private – of 10 or more people, and will give the police the final say on whether a protest can take place. As a result, the law is deemed just as restrictive as a similar protest bill debated and later discarded under Morsi, whose own authoritarian instincts contributed to his downfall. His version – which was written by the same official – would have made demonstrators seek five separate permissions, instead of seven, but outlined more draconian punishments. "This law brings Mubarak's era back," said Gamal Eid, the director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information and one of Egypt's leading human rights laws. Eid even argued that the new law compared unfavourably with repressive legislation drafted while Egypt was still a British protectorate.
