CAIRO: Local retail investors who lost hope of a possible end-of-year rally dragged Egyptian shares more than 1 percent lower on Monday in the absence of foreign institutions that usually buy blue-chip stocks. It is pure negative sentiment, said Mohamed Radwan of Delta Securities. There were expectations of a rally by the end of the year, and with time passing they started to vanish and triggered a sell-off. The Sixth of October Development and Investment (SODIC), a real estate developer, was the most heavily traded stock by turnover after shares available from a capital increase worth around LE 109 million ($19 million) made their debut on the market. Shares in the firm shed 1.2 percent to close at LE 133.55, defying expectations of a steep decline after increasing the number of its shares. Mohamed Omar of Al Shorouk Brokerage said the Beltone Group s acquisition of 4.2 million shares of Medinet Nasr Housing at LE 110 a share helped SODIC hold its ground. SODIC is one of the strongest housing shares. It has large pieces of land and is expected to start new projects, he said. Comparing both firms in terms of assets and balance sheets, you will find that if Medinet Nasr is worth 110 pounds per share, SODIC is worth more. The market took note of this. Shares in Medinet Nasr Housing skidded 7 percent to close at LE 102.27 a share. Investment bank EFG-Hermes, a stock popular with retail investors, also dropped 2.9 percent to LE 39.25 a share. Traders had expected local investors to continue to sell stock as Egypt approaches a season of Islamic and Coptic Christian holidays, as well as the New Year. The Hermes index fell 1.1 percent to close at 59,172.45 and the closely watched Case 30 index shed 1 percent to 6,747.76 points. The broader CIBC-100 dropped 1.2 percent to close at 282.59 points.
