During Wednesday opening session, the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) has posted losses of EGP 2.45billion as the capital market has amounted to EGP 333.421 billion, according to data compiled by Amwal Al Ghad at 09:22 GMT (11:22 a.m. in Cairo). Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi asked Tuesday Hisham Kandil, the minister of water resources and irrigation little known outside Egypt, to form a new government, state media reported on Tuesday. Kandil was a senior bureaucrat in the ministry until he was appointed minister in July last year in the wake of the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak. The main index, EGX30 dived 1.51% to hit 4746.53 p. EGX20 sank 1.19% to hit 5446.26 p. "This is quite a surprise as most of the names put around had been from the financial sector. The market is definitely reacting negatively," said Mohamed Radwan at Pharos Securities. Meanwhile, the mid- and small-cap index, the EGX70 edged down 0.22% to hit 424.88 p. Price index EGX100 inched lower 0.52% to hit 727.11 p. Traded volume reached 20.861 million securities worth EGP 33.295 million, exchanged through 2.126 transactions. This was after trading in 75 listed securities; 57 declined 12 advanced while 6 keeping their previous levels. The reason behind EGX30' early downwards was that non-Arab Foreigners and Arabs were net sellers amid the announcement of new cabinet formation seizing 21.98% and 9.58% respectively, of the total markets, with a net equity of EGP 503.821 and EGP 1.566 million excluding the deals. Egyptians were net buyers seizing 68.44% of the total markets, with a net equity of EGP 2.069 million excluding the deals. Leading Shares: EGX's leading shares witnessed collective downwards except for the shares of Orascom Telecom Media & Technology Holding (OTMT.CA) which kept their previous levels at EGP 0.50. Orascom Construction Industries: Orascom Construction Industries (OCIC.CA) led EGX's early downwards by going down by 1.73% to hit EGP 248.99. Commercial International Bank- Egypt: The shares of Commercial International Bank- Egypt (CIB) (COMI.CA) sank 1.31% to hit EGP 27.89. Talaat Moustafa Group Shares of Talaat Moustafa Group (TMGH.CA) tumbled by 1.25% to hit EGP 3.95. EFG-Hermes Holding: The shares of EFG-Hermes Holding (HRHO.CA) inched lower 1.10% to hit EGP 10.80. Orascom Telecom Holding: The shares of Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH) (ORTE.CA) plummeted 0.92% to hit EGP 3.22. Citadel Capital: Shares of Citadel Capital retreated 0.68% to hit EGP 2.94. Pharos Research commented on the news that Citadel Capital (CCAP.CA) entered into a termination agreement with Golden Crescent Investments, an Opportunity-Specific Fund controlled by the firm, to end the previously announced sale of the National Petroleum Company (NPC) to Sea Dragon Energy due to the uncertainty regarding the date of sale as well as ongoing economic turbulence locally and internationally. Pharos' Hamza Al-Assad described the termination of the sale agreement as cash-negative as well as strategically-negative in as much as it continues to undermine CCAP efforts to exit from non-core investments and increase its stakes in core investments. “In March 2011, CCAP had agreed with Sea Dragon to purchase NPC for a total consideration of $147.5 million, split into $87.5 million in the form of Sea Dragon shares and $60.0 million in cash. It is interesting to note that the deadline for Sea Dragon to finalize the sale was set at 10 August 2012", he added.
