Concerns over global economic recovery pulled Egypt's main index down to its lowest level since November 30 on Sunday, traders said. For the eighth day in a row, the country's benchmark index EGX 30 fell by 137 points, or 2.28 per cent, ending the day's trading at 5,895.55 points. The EGX 70 index, which measures 70 of the country's small and mid caps, slid by 0.83 per cent to 523.3 points amid light trading volumes, traders added. Volume stood at LE350 million, according to the Egyptian Exchange. Big caps were in the red, pulling EGX 30 to a seven-month low. Orascom Telecom, the largest Arab mobile operator by subscribers, dipped by 2.41 per cent to LE4.86 per share. Orascom Construction Industries, the country's largest builder by market value, fell by 2.7 per cent to LE221.29 per share. Telecom Egypt shed 4.13 per cent to LE15.09 per share. Shares in developer Talaat Moustafa shed 4.22 per cent, to LE7.03. Pioneers Holding plunged by 4.84 per cent to LE3.34 per share. Regionally, Gulf shares fell for a second day, with Kuwait's gauge sliding to the lowest since 2004, on concern weak manufacturing data from the US to China will slow the global recovery and as crude lost 8.5 per cent last week, Bloomberg reported. "Investors are moving away from risk appetite in line with what's happening with global markets and as oil declines," said Haissam Arabi, chief executive officer of Gulfmena Alternative Investments in Dubai. "We expect more downside pressure." Crude oil for August delivery lost 8.5 per cent last week, dropping to $72.14 a barrel on July 2, the lowest settlement since June 8. On Friday, US stocks fell to close out their worst week in two months as disappointing jobs data joined other recent evidence pointing to a tepid economic recovery, according to Reuters. Adding to stocks' weaker tone was a technical move that indicated more selling pressure may be ahead. The S&P 500's 50-day moving average broke below its 200-day moving average, a break known as the "death cross." Non-farm payrolls fell in June for the first time this year, adding to a slew of economic reports signaling the US recovery is slowing. "It's not really possible to be bullish about the jobs report," said Linda Duessel, market strategist at Federated Investors in Pittsburgh. "The people that are bidding down this market are looking at the many economic statistics we've had throughout this month of June, which were disappointing to slightly disappointing." Financials and economically sensitive sectors were the biggest decliners. The S&P 500 financial index shed 1.1 per cent, while consumer discretionary stocks were down 1.2 per cent. Volume on Friday was among the five lightest days of the year, with many participants leaving early for the long Fourth of July holiday weekend. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 46.05 points, or 0.47 per cent, to 9,686.48. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 4.79 points, or 0.47 per cent, to 1,022.58. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC fell 9.57 points, or 0.46 per cent, to 2,091.79.Earlier in the week, the S&P fell below the 1,040 level, viewed by many analysts as a critical support level which it had successfully held several times in the past five months. For the week, the Dow fell 4.5 per cent, the S&P lost five per cent and the Nasdaq shed 5.9 per cent. According to technical analysts, a "death cross" occurs when a shorter-term average falls below a longer-term average. The phenomenon last occurred between the 50- and 200-day moving averages in December 2007, soon after the market began a decline that eventually took the S&P 500 to 12-year lows. The Labour Department reported non-farm payrolls dropped by 125,000, the largest decline since October and affected by the loss of temporary government census jobs. The unemployment rate fell to 9.5 per cent, the lowest level since July, but only because a flood of jobless workers gave up their employment search. Private hiring rose 83,000, the department said, up from the previous month. Other weak data on Friday came in new orders for US factories, which showed the sharpest drop since the depth of the recession and the first decline in nine months.
