CAIRO: Shares in Commercial International Bank and Orascom Construction Industries weighed on Egypt s CASE 30 index on Thursday, pulling it down to its third straight day of losses. The benchmark index lost 1.07 percent to 8,173.54 points, extending its losses since Monday to about 4 percent. The Hermes index also fell by 0.62 percent to 718.32 points. The decline in international markets dragged down global depositary receipts (GDRs) and this weighed on stocks like OCI and CIB, said Mostafa Badra, CEO of Osool Brokerage. Shares in construction giant OCI dropped 2.11 percent to LE 350.11 ($64.45) while CIB shares last traded 3.83 percent lower at LE 44.40 after their GDRs fell 2.7 percent and 3.15 percent respectively in London. Worries about the global financial sector drove world equities to their lowest in more than two years for a second day on Thursday, while the US dollar struck a one-year high against the euro. Tamer Galal, chief technical analyst at Amwal Securities said some local financials, including CIB, were also affected by rising inflation figures for August, announced on Tuesday. Credit Agricole Bank last traded 3.42 percent down at LE 14.70, while the heavily traded investment bank EFG-Hermes lost 0.84 percent to LE 47.15. Rising food prices drove inflation in urban parts of Egypt above market forecasts to 23.6 percent in the year to August, piling pressure on the central bank to raise interest rates for the sixth time this year. Market heavyweight Orascom Telecom (OT) was also in the red, shedding 0.42 percent to LE 45 per share. But the broader CIBC index rose 0.43 percent to 425.91 points as shares in Talaat Moustafa Group gained 1.43 percent to LE 7.10, extending its gains since Sept. 3 to over 28 percent. Trading volumes in the stock increased recently to an average of between 40 and 60 million shares a day from only 3 million shares a day. There is buying power that believes in the fundamentals of the firm, said Galal. The real estate developer said on Wednesday its assets were worth LE 34.5 billion on June 30, a 74 percent rise on the valuation a year earlier.
