Driven by a profit-taking sentiment, Egyptian stocks fell on Monday, traders said. The country's main index shed 113 points on foreign selling, they added. Arab and non-Arab investors made net sell-offs worth LE14.6 million ($2.6 million) and LE33.7 million respectively, according to the Egyptian Exchange. Egyptians made net purchases of LE48.7 million. The country's benchmark index EGX 30 fell by 1.86 per cent, ending the day's trading at 5,994.96 points. The EGX 70, which measures 70 of the country's small and mid caps, was 0.15 per cent down at 560.6 points. Volume exceeded LE515 million, according to the Egyptian Exchange. Orascom Construction Industries, the country's largest builder by market value, plunged by 1.73 per cent to LE229.9 per share. Orascom Telecom, the largest Arab mobile operator by subscribers, lost 2.39 per cent to LE4.91 per share. Developer Talaat Moustafa dipped by 1.79 per cent, to LE7.12 per share. EFG-Hermes, Egypt's largest investment bank by market value, fell by 1.4 per cent, closing at LE29.58 per share. Meanwhile, the euro slid as jitters grew ahead of the results of European bank stress tests due later this month and the yen slipped after Japan's ruling coalition lost its upper house majority in Sunday's election, putting the government's policies to deal with the country's massive debt at risk, Reuters reported. Wall Street had its best week in a year last week ahead of this week's key earnings, which include Alcoa, Intel, JP Morgan, Google, Bank of America, GE and Citi. "In view of the concerns that the markets and investors have had about the loss of economic momentum, these results will be pretty important. If these earnings are good, this market is going to fly," said Mike Lenhoff, chief strategist at Brewin Dolphin. "Some of the pre-announcements have been quite encouraging. So it looks as if it's going to move in the right direction." Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) world equity index hit a two-week high of 280.79 before erasing gains to stand down 0.1 per cent. The FTSEurofirst 300 index ticked higher on the day while emerging stocks rose 0.15 per cent. The euro fell half a per cent to $1.2577, pulling away from a two-month high as concerns about the effectiveness of stress tests on European banks prompted investors to trim long positions in the single currency. "Only a test that takes into account all potential outcomes will convince the financial markets," Commerzbank said in a note. The dollar fell 0.3 percent to 88.90 yen after Prime Minister Naoto Kan's Democratic Party of Japan lost its upper house majority in Sunday's election less than a year after it swept to power promising change.
