CAIRO: Egyptian shares extend declines into a fourth day, with the benchmark index falling 1.4 percent as local investors take stock of Egypt's economic problems after a phase of exuberance last month, traders say. Among blue-chips, Commercial International Bank (CIB) falls 1.8 percent, EFG-Hermes 0.9 percent and Orascom Construction Industries 0.4 percent. Some traders expect the country's political anxieties will continue to hurt the market over the coming days. "I think we will see selling short run because of the confusion and uncertainty," says Hashem Ghoneim of Pyramids Capital. The market mostly rallied after it reopened on March 23 following a closure of more than seven weeks due to the protests that ousted Egypt's president. "The market recovered too fast in a short time span. Now people are digesting recent economic news" at a time when the Egyptian pound EGP= is trading near a six-year low, says Osama Mourad of Arab Finance Brokerage. Among announcements in the last few days that traders say are hurting the market were a $3 billion dip in foreign reserves in March, an increase in annual inflation to an 11-month high and a growing list of businessmen having their assets frozen. "The continuation of the witch-hunt is too much," Ghoneim says. Pioneers Holdings falls 2.8 percent after the company said consolidated net income plunged 90 percent in 2010. The broad market index slides even more than the EGX30, declining 2.1 percent. "The EGX30 is proving more resilient. The EGX100 is sentimentally affected by the mood of retail investors, and it had also gone up more," Mourad says.
