CAIRO: Orascom Construction Industries posted its sharpest single day decline in at least two years on Tuesday, pulling Egypt s benchmark index to an 11-month low. Shares of OCI, Egypt s largest listed builder, last traded 7.7 percent lower at LE 330 ($62). The CASE 30 index extended losses to a fourth straight session, closing 2.8 percent down at 8,252.81 points, its lowest since Sept. 13. This is across the board selling reflecting a regional trend as foreign funds could be reshuffling investments to other emerging markets, said Aly Allouba, head of sales and trading at Shuaa Capital in Egypt. Markets in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Kuwait also dipped. The fundamentals don t justify what s happening but there are no fresh funds pumped into the market, he added. Other big caps also suffered as Orascom Telecom fell 5.8 percent to LE 51.25. Pioneers Holding lost 4.6 percent to LE 16.70. Talaat Moustafa Group, Egypt s largest real estate company by market value, declined for the fourth straight session, shedding 4.1 percent to last trade at LE 6.58. Talaat Moustafa shares, down more than 30 percent this year, have tumbled about 15 percent since Thursday on media reports about company chairman Hisham Talaat Moustafa, brokers said. The company has denied unspecified rumors about the chairman but officials have declined to comment in detail. The company said on Tuesday its board approved a share buyback of up to 4.9 percent of its shares from the open market, saying it was a good investment opportunity for its extra cash. The move has still to be approved by the regulator. This could support the stock, which in fact has good fundamentals, said Amr Alaa of Prime Securities. The Hermes index fell 2.6 percent to 719.32 points. The broader CIBC index shed 1.4 percent to 405.62 points. -Reuters
