CAIRO: Egyptian stocks extended this week s heavy losses in early trade on Thursday in a bout of panic-selling by small investors and Gulf investors, traders said. The benchmark Hermes index was 4.9 percent lower at 12:25 GMT at 44,132.50 points, and the Case 30 was off 5.4 percent at 5,017.14 points. The slump in the Hermes index wiped out Wednesday s partial recovery after the index had tumbled more than 12 percent on Monday and Tuesday. There are a lot of people who have given up on the market. People are fearful that the market is going to get worse and are selling off its major retail, Yasser Hassanein of Dynamic Securities said. Bassim Arida of CIBC Brokerage said Gulf investors were among the sellers. They are panicking and need money because they are hit in their countries, he said. Shares in EFG-Hermes were 14.8 percent lower at LE 28.90 ($5.11) in heavy volume. Arabia Cotton Ginning was down 15.9 percent at LE 8.64 and Ezz Steel Rebars was 9.9 percent lower at LE 48.00. Traders have attributed this week s slump to panic selling by small investors reacting to sales by large investors who sold in line with a dip in emerging markets. Reuters
