In a week which witnessed the inauguration ceremony of Egypt's new president, the stocks attained gains totalling 9.4 billion Egyptian pounds. The main stock index, EGX30 inched up by 2.9% throughout trading sessions of last week, registering an increase of 247.62 points, ending Thursday's transactions at 8746.27 points compared to 8498.65 points at the end of a week earlier. The main gauge index registered its highest point on Thursday closing at 8746.27 points, whereas its lowest point recorded on Tuesday at 8567.06 points. Ex-chief army Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was sworn in on Sunday amid strong turnout among Gulf Arab monarchies including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Those countries are expected to announce billions more in aid to the new government any day. The Kings of Jordan and Bahrain and the Palestinian president also attended as did the leaders of five African countries. Back to the indices' performance throughout last week trading, the mid- and small-cap index, the EGX70 hiked by 1.5% closing at 608.42 points during Thursday's session, compared to 599.24 points at the end of a week earlier. The price index, EGX100 also surged by 2.2% concluding by 1070.57 points during Thursday's session, against 1047.93 points at the end of a week earlier. Furthermore, the market capitalization closed at EGP 495.987 billion last Thursday, compared to EGP 486.599 billion at the end of a week earlier. Turnovers & Traded Volumes: Through the week, the trading volume hit around 1.9 billion securities, compared to 1.5 billion securities at the end of a week earlier. For the traded value, it reached EGP 7.6 billion against EGP 6.1 billion a week earlier. Sectors Activity: Financial Services excluding Banks sector was the most active sector through last week, recording a volume of trades of 1.789 million securities worth EGP 2.281 billion. Telecommunications sector came second, attaining a volume of trades of 324.8 million securities worth EGP 596.4 million. Travel & Leisure sector reported third, with a volume of trades of 121.3 million securities worth EGP 306.2 million. Real Estate was on the fourth position, getting a volume of trades of 118.4 million securities worth EGP 835.5 million. Industrial Goods and Services and Automobiles came fifth, recording a volume of trades of 63.6 million securities worth EGP 154.7 million. Personal and Household Products sector reported sixth, having a volume of trades of 46.2 million securities worth EGP 193.8 million. Construction and Materials was on the seventh position, with a volume of trades of 27.9 million securities worth EGP 147.9 million. Food and Beverage reported eighth, attaining a volume of trades of 25.3 million securities worth EGP 111.3 billion. Basic Resources took the ninth position, with a volume of trades of 9.2 million securities worth EGP 124.5 million. Banks reported tenth, recording a volume of trades of 8 million securities worth EGP 246.8 million. Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals sector ranked eleventh, attaining a volume of trades of 6.2 million securities worth EGP 20.8 million. At the bottom of the list, Chemicals reported twelfth getting a volume of trades of 2.7 million securities worth EGP 36.6 million. Investors' Activity: Local investors led the market activity all through the week with 89.19%, followed by foreign and Arab investors with 5.88% and 4.93%, respectively, after excluding the deals. Foreign investors were the most active buyers during the week earning the value of EGP 136.16 million, after excluding the deals. Arab investors were to sell by value of EGP 3.78 million, after excluding the deals. Moreover, institutions seized 55.63% of total trading through the week; while individuals attained 44.37%. Institutions were the most active sellers during the week earning the value of EGP 74.21 million, after excluding the deals. Market Remarks - EGX: Trading to be Halted Sunday, Celebrated Sisi's Inauguration EGX's administration announced Sunday, June 8th, 2014 as an official vacation on the occasion of the Egyptian new President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's inauguration. The trading sessions were resumed on Monday, June 9th, 2014. - Egypt Bourse Chief Meets with Belgium Ambassador Egypt bourse's chairman has met on Monday with the Belgium ambassador in Cairo, discussing the Egyptian capital market's performance and growth rates. Dr. Mohamed Omran, the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) Chairman, met with Gilles HEYVAERT, Belgium Ambassador in Cairo. The meeting shed light on the latest issues regarding the Egyptian capital market development statistics which has outburst during the beginning of the year. Both Dr. Omran and H.E. Gilles Heyvaert stressed on the strong relations between the two countries. Dr. Omran stated that EGX welcomes all the initiatives regarding new investments direct and indirect investment flows. He also invited the Belgium companies to study listing on EGX as well as inviting the companies that has representative offices in Egypt to benefit from the funding tools EGX offers such as Egyptian Depository Receipts. He finally encouraged the investment portfolios to invest in Egypt. From his side, the Belgium ambassador emphasized that the International Society has witnessed closely Egypt's progress over the past 3 years. He also pointed out that his country has strong economic relations with Egypt where Belgium is considered the forth commercial partner with Egypt. Its exports value concludes about US$ 1.3 billion whereas Belgium imports Egyptian products of a value about US$ 400 million. He finally conveyed the importance of reducing the gap between exports and imports between the two countries. - MSCI Drops Plans to Exclude Egypt from Emerging Market Index Morgan Stanley Capital International - MSCI inc., a leading provider of indexes and other investment decision support tools worldwide, announced on Wednesday that it is no longer considering launching a public consultation on a potential exclusion of the MSCI Egypt Index from the MSCI Emerging Markets Index according to Reuters. MSCI added, in its annual market classification review for 2014, that it was due to the substantial increase in Egyptian foreign currency reserves. - MSCI Decision will Bolster Investor Confidence in Egypt Bourse – Chief Commenting on MSCI's decision to drop plans to downgrade Egypt from Emerging Market Index, the Egyptian Exchange Chairman Mohamed Omran said it will raise the confidence levels among all investors, especially foreign investors. This would in return reflect on the volume and value of trades in the Egyptian stock market during the next period. Omran added, in a press release by the stock exchange on Wednesday, that MSCI decision came after intense negotiation with the institution to show the promising investment climate in Egypt as well as the absence of obstacles facing investors regardless of their nationality. In addition, Omran said that the collaboration with the Central Bank of Egypt and its commitment to cover all the needs of foreign investors which affirmed the confidence of investors in the climate of investment in Egypt. Omran expected the decision to have a positive effect on the volume of foreign investments in the Egyptian market.
