Traders predict an upward trend in the stock exchange in 2014 expecting it to reach 7,000 points during the final session of 2013 on Tuesday, after closing at 6,780 points during Sunday's session. Capital Head of the National Bank of Kuwait Technical Analysis Department Mohamed Al-Aasar expects the market to move this week in a range of 6,650 and 6,990 points. Al Aasar said: "The market will maintain its upward trend in 2014, approaching 8,400 points. In the meantime, the market will fall back to the 5,300 points due to its strong corrective movement." He added: "Some shares will have a positive performance in the medium term; the Financial and Industrial share is projected to EGP 12.70 and the Amer Group share is projected to EGP 2.70. In the medium term, all market sectors will perform well." Al-Aasar advised medium and long-term investors to "seize opportunities to purchase and maintain shares," and short-term investors to purchase during this week's sessions and exit when the market moves upward. Head of Technical Analysis Department at Osool for Stock Brokerage Ihab Said predicted a transverse performance by the market, fluctuating between 6,750 and 7,000 points throughout the week, "reaching the 7,000 point resistance level and going back again". Said is optimistic about the market's performance in the long-run since "approaching the medium term targets for the first time since January 2011". "This week is a good trading opportunity for a short-term investor," Said stated. He recommended that they "purchase in fall-back and sell on the market's rebound mid-week". Head of Trade Department at Arabia Online for Stock Brokerage Hayam El-Shimy predicted that the market would fluctuate between 6,650 and 6,800 points this week and will subsequently maintain its upward trend towards 7,000 points and remain at this level for the first quarter of 2014. She expects an improvement in the market performance after vacations and the voting on the constitutional referendum. This week will have only four sessions due to the New Year holiday next Wednesday. Last week witnessed the bombing at the Al-Dakahleya Security Directorate during Tuesday's session, exerting a downward pressure on the market for the first half of the session before it rebounded fiercely. Nasr City bombings also resulted in a decline in the market by nearly 0.84% during Thursday's session. The market indicators recorded a collective rise for the third consecutive week. EGX 30 reached 6,876 points at the start of the Thursday session, before falling back and closing at 6,813 points. Hence, the whole week recorded a rise of 0.95%, an increase of 64.44 points. The small and medium sized enterprises indicator EGX 70 rose by 0.57%, closing at 538 points, while EGX 100 rose by 0.83%, reaching 919 points. The market capital for registered shares added nearly EGP 2.7bn to its market value, registering EGP 425.8bn compared to 423.1 in the previous week, an increase of 0.6%. The trading volume for registered shares is recorded at nearly EGP 3.1bn, resulting from trading 875 million shares with 109,000 transactions compared to EGP 5bn, generated by trading 983 million shares with 125,000 transactions during the previous week. Nile Exchange receded to a record EGP 50.5m compared to EGP 59m during the previous week, a result of trading 14.3 million shares with 6,500 transactions. This week's trading volume represents 67.6% of that of last week, while bonds represent 32.4%. For the first time in six weeks, foreign investors increased their purchasing level. They recorded net purchases of EGP 12.5m, representing an increase of 5.87% from last week's transactions. The purchases of Arab investors represent their support of the market during the last period, their transactions witnessing a significant increase. Net purchases registered EGP 92.04m, comprising 7.39% of the market. Last week witnessed an appreciation of shares, reaching unprecedented levels. The Saudi Egyptian for Investment and Funding share reached its peak at EGP 59.55 since April 2012. The Al-Nasr for Producing Agricultural Products share reached EGP 19 during Thursday's session, the highest level since November 2011. The CIB share reached 33.36 EGP, also reaching its peak during Thursday's session. It subsequently dropped, closing at EGP 32.85 which equates to a weekly rise of 1%. The Ezz Steel share is expected to retain its downward trend in the short run since approaching its target at 16 EGP, recording 15.60 EGP during Wednesday's session. The share closed at 15.21, which equates to a weekly decrease of 2%. The Al-Arabiya for Investments and Development share witnessed significant increases during the last period, reaching its peak in three years after the decision to distribute 40 piastre dividends per share. It closed last week at 1.16 EGP. Translated from AlBorsa Newspaper
