Egypt's stock slipped considerably on Tuesday to a five-month low after unofficial tallies of the election results showed Mohamed Mursi had won. Continuing political ambiguity is also having an impact, after the military council issued an addendum to the March 2011 Constitutional Declaration which many analysts said strips the new president of most of his powers and transfers them to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). The final election results will be announced on Thursday. Members of Ahmed Shafiq's campaign have said that their candidate is leading the race, frustrated with what they argue are inaccurate claims that Mursi has won. Contradictory declarations from supporters of the two candidates have not helped to reassure the market. The benchmark EGX30 index fell 3.42 per cent to 4,269 points by the end of Monday's session. The broader index EGX70 index fell 1.41 per cent. "I believe the main reason for today's loss is the preliminary news about Mursi winning. The talk of the presidential candidate and his party about tourism, interest rates and the Central Bank law they wanted to pass is not very encouraging for investors," said Issa Fathy, vice-president of the securities division at Cairo's Chamber of Commerce. He believes that what is needed to reassure the market is a speech from Mursi that will restore investors' confidence. The market also reacted to the downgrading by global ratings agency Fitch of the Egypt sovereign credit note, to reach B- on Friday. At LE245.1 million, turnover however remains within the averages of the last day, but decreased compared to the last session on Thursday, when it reached some LE305 million. Today saw the first working session after three days of closure. Of 152 stocks traded in Monday's session, only 18 registered gains and 123 lost. Orascom Telecom Media and Technology Holding (OTMT) had the biggest turnover with LE34.4 million, but lost 1.52 per cent in value. The biggest market cap Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) lost 4.8 per cent. Another big cap, Telecom Egypt, lost 3.34 per cent. Domestic investors and Arabs ended the session as net buyers, recording a net flow of LE19.5 million and LE5.6 million respectively, while foreigners closed as net sellers, recording a net flow of LE25.1 million.
