By Ahmed Kamel CAIRO, March 20, 2018 - Cairo, March 20–The local equities extended marginal losses on Tuesday as a profit-taking sentiment cast a shadow on most shares for the second day in a row. The benchmarkindex EGX30fell by 0.34 per cent to17,113.9 points. The broader indices EGX70 and EGX100slipped 0.22 and0.07per cent to 886.62 and 2,264.88 points. Volume totaled LE1.8 billion (around $102.2million), market data showed. Locals were net sellers of LE98.33million, bourse data showed. Arab and non-Arab investors were net buyers of LE56million and LE42.27 million respectively. The EGX50 index bucked the trend, adding 0.12 per cent to 2,866.59 points. The EGX20 Capped indexshed 0.04 per cent to 16,994.27points. Of a total 181tradedstocks yesterday53 shares rose, 88 fell, 40 remained unchanged, market data showed. A program of initial public offerings (IPOs) is forecast to boost the equity market. The government has unveiled a plan to sell off stakes in 23 state-owned companies. The planned IPOs are expected to boost market liquidity in the coming months. Shares in Heliopolis for Housing & Development, Madinet Nas for Housing & Development, Eastern Co. for Tobacco and Sidi Kerir Petrochemicals, in which 15-30 per cent stakes will be free floated, are forecast to rise in the coming weeks. Abu Dhabi-based private equity firm Gulf Capital acquired 25 per cent stake in the Egyptian medical firm TechnoScan for $3 million. In 2010, the company acquired 75 per cent stake in TechnoScan.
