The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) recorded gains last week after news broke that a number of mergers were set to conclude in Egypt's banking and financial services sectors. According to its weekly report, the total capital for companies listed on the EGX rose by EGP 6.315bn, reaching EGP 383.206bn compared to EGP 376.891bn the previous week. Primary stock exchange indicators for the main EGX 30 index rose this week by 1.72% to 5703 points. The mid-level EGX 70 index rose 3.71%, reaching 483 points. The EGX 100 index rose by 2.65%, reaching 811 points, while the EGX 20 increased by 2.7% and reached 6647 points. The report stated that nearly 844 million shares had been traded this week in 123,000 transactions and at a total value of EGP 3.2 bn. This is compared to 479 million shares of stock traded in 99,000 transactions last week at an estimated value of EGP 2.5bn. The Nile Stock Exchange (Nilex) saw 2.1 million shares of stock traded in 1,174 transactions at and an estimated value of EGP 7.3m, with shares market trading representing 72.69% of all transactions and bonds making up the remaining 27.31%. The report concluded that 78.37% of those shares traded on the country's stock exchange were Egypt-based, with 9.77% accounted for by other Arab countries, and other nationalities accounting for 11.85% of trades. Net sales made by traders from other Arab states reached EGP 142.03m, and the value of net purchases made by traders of other nationalities recorded at EGP 124.68m. Since the beginning of 2012, net purchases made by other nationalities have totalled EGP 674.80m. Net sales made by Arabs have reached EGP 594.18m during this period. The report went on to state that large companies and institutions represented 46.94% of all transactions made during this period, with individuals making up the remaining 53.06%. Net purchases for institutions last week totalled EGP 95.61m. The report added that 777,000 bonds had also been sold at an estimated value of EGP 853m.
