Egypt's bourse ended this week with gains worth 1 billion Egyptian pounds powered by the launch of the new investment certificate designated to fund the new waterway alongside the Suez Canal. In addition, the country's main stock index, EGX30 surged on Thursday above 9650 points. The certificates have been issued Thursday from four state-owned banks: Bank Misr, the National Bank of Egypt, Banque du Caire, and the Suez Canal Bank. The certificates are issued at a value of EGP 10, EGP 100, EGP 1000 and its multiples, with a maturity of five years and a 12 percent interest rate. However, the Egyptian Exchange's indices were wavering in mixed notes during the closing session of Thursday, driven by the major power outage has hit early Thursday morning various parts of Cairo and other governorates. Earlier today commenting on the power cut, Dr. Mohamed Omran – EGX Chairman – asserted that it will not affect the trading session due to having alternative electricity-generating sources. He added that the trading session will operate normally today and will not be suspended. Indices Egypt's benchmark index EGX30 ended 0.24 per cent higher to 9650.43 pts; while EGX20 finished 0.49 per cent up to 11602.67 pts. In addition, the mid- and small-cap index, the EGX70 sagged by 0.56 per cent to finish at 659.9 pts. The price index EGX100 fell by 0.40 per cent to conclude at 1176.78 pts. Furthermore, the market capitalization recorded EGP 529.157 billion on Thursday. Turnovers Near EGP One billion Through the closing session of Thursday, the trading volume has reached 163.981 million securities, with turnovers worth EGP 974.611 million, exchanged through 23.553 transactions. Also during the closing session, 185 listed securities have been traded in; 97 declined, 57 advanced; while 29 kept their previous levels. Investors' Activities Local investors were net buyers on Thursday acquiring 65.34% of the total market, with a net equity of EGP 88.447 million, excluding the deals. On the other hand, the non-Arab foreign investors and Arab investors were net sellers seizing 26.4% and 8.26% respectively of the total markets, with a net equity of EGP 59.651 million and EGP 28.795 million, respectively, excluding the deals.
