CAIRO: Sewedy Cables extended a tumble on Wednesday, falling at one point more than 17 percent and helping to drag Egypt s benchmark index to an eleventh day of losses. Stocks fell across the board, with only one share gaining on the CASE 30 index. Sewedy, the largest Arab cable-maker by market value, has lost 22 percent of its value in the last two trading sessions. It closed down 13.72 percent at LE 54.00 ($9.73). The firm was downgraded to neutral from accumulate by EFG-Hermes on Monday, with the investment bank citing the possibility of weak quarterly results in cutting its long-term fair value to LE 110. Al-Mal daily has reported that Sewedy was part of a group bidding for a $50 million project to link the electricity grids in Egypt and Gaza. A company spokesman said the company had not released any news that could have caused the share price decline. There is definitely institutional selling behind this, retail selling would not take it this far down, said Rami Maftah, trader at Pharos Securities, citing a key support level at LE 67 and a psychologically important level at LE 60 which was breached in early trade. Hasham Ghoneim from Pyramids Capital said heavy volume on the stock indicated a single organization could have been selling without regard to the price. Trading on Sewedy was suspended for half an hour at least once in the trading day, after the stock moved more than 10 percent. Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), the biggest decliner by turnover, also slumped to close 8.55 percent lower at LE 103.80, its lowest close since mid-2006. There is nothing bad out about OCI or Sewedy, it is just extreme market panic, Pyramids Ghoneim said. People are scared we are going to break the previous lows we saw a month ago. It is the whole gloomy atmosphere around us. EFG-Hermes said it cut its long-term fair value estimate on Orascom Construction because of volatility in oil and commodity prices. EFG-Hermes cut Orascom s fair value estimate to LE 205 per share from LE 310.40. BESIX Group, in which OCI has a 50 percent stake, announced on Tuesday a $740 million joint venture with Midmac Contracting Co. to build a convention centre in Qatar. The benchmark CASE 30 index slumped 5.99 percent to 3,780.38 points. The CASE 30 has shed more than 19 percent since Jan. 6. The rival Hermes index fell 5.48 percent to 367.42 points and the broader CIBC index lost 5.46 percent to 273.5 points.
