The Egyptian Exchange's benchmark index EGX-30 is expected to remain insulated from the downward trend in global capital markets, leading analysts predicted, adding that the market remains linked to the Gulf. Mohamed Al-Assar, head of the technical analysis department at the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) for investment in North Africa and the Middle East, said the index will range between 5,750 points and 6,250 points in the week of 31 January. Ahmed Khaled, head of the technical analysis division at Arabeya Online Brokerage, said the short-term performance of EGX-30 will stay at 5,700 points, while the medium-terms will see an average of 5,500 points. "Until the market crosses the barrier of 6,300 points, we cannot say that the market has started to pick up," Khaled said. During the past trading week, EGX-30 surged by 4.79%, rising from 5,713.35 points to 5,986.78 points. The broader index, EGX-100, increased by 3.3% to reach 714.89 points while the small and medium enterprises index EGX-70 rose from 344.13 points to 355.87 points, increasing by 3.41%. Chairman of Egyptian-Swiss Company for Brokerage Akram Al-Masry said that regardless of any economic improvement that may occur in Egypt, the capital market's movements are still hard to predict. The value of traded shares amounted to EGP 5.1bn, compared to EGP 6.8bn recorded during the previous week, a report published by the EGX highlighted. The report added that the number of traded shares totalled 858m executed over 88,000 transactions. The number of shares traded reached its highest point on 21 January with a total of 457.07m while the highest value was recorded its greatest value on 19 January at EGP 2.23bn. "Egyptian [investors] controlled 88.93% of the value traded during the week," the report read. "Non-Arab foreign investors accounted for 7.16%, while Arab investors captured 3.91%, after excluding deals." Non-Arabs sold securities with a net equity of EGP 194.35m while Arab investors purchased securities with a net equity of EGP 103.81m. "Institutions accounted for 75.41% of the value traded, while the remaining 24.59% were for the individuals [sic]", the report added. "The institutions were net sellers during this week, with a net equity of 74.22m". The EGX's report added that "the total market capitalization of the listed stocks culminated at EGP 391bn at the end of this week, representing an increase of 3% over the week."
