CAIRO: Egypt s main indexes fell on Monday, a day after recording its highest single-day gain in 18 months, as profit-taking dominated the market and international turmoil hit investment banks led by EFG-Hermes. The benchmark CASE 30 index, which gained 6.15 percent on Sunday, lost 1.96 percent to close at 7,353.64 points. The Hermes index ended 0.99 percent lower to 655.39 points, while the broader CIBC index lost 0.94 percent to 375.32 points. Investors were taking profits after Sunday s rise, said Eissa Fathy, the managing director of the Strategic Company for Securities. He added that the kidnapping of tourists on the Egyptian Sudanese border, which was announced 30 minutes before the close of trade, had no effect on the market. Kidnappers in Egypt have seized 19 hostages including German, Italian and Romanian tourists near the Sudanese border, Egyptian officials said on Monday. Tourism is one of the most important drivers of economic growth in Egypt. Mohamed Radwan, director of International Sales at Pharos Securities, said investors had bought their fill on Sunday, resulting in low trading volume on Monday. Turnover on the day stood at about LE 761 million ($138.9 million). Shares in EFG-Hermes fell 7.17 percent to last trade at LE 36 after Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley turned into bank holding companies to survive a financial storm that has destroyed their rivals. EFG-Hermes is the biggest investment bank in Egypt and maybe the region, and although this carries no direct risk for it, the move shows that this business model has a problem, Radwan said. Investment bank Naeem Holding also lost 2.56 percent to $0.76. Shares in the market heavyweights Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) and Orascom Telecom (OT) were affected by sliding global depositary receipts (GDRs) in London, brokers said. OCI fell 2.52 percent to last trade at LE 318.01, while OT was 1.13 percent lower at LE 42.95. Shares in real estate developer Talaat Moustafa, which were the most heavily traded by turnover, last traded 6.16 percent lower at LE 5.64.
