For the second day in a row, Egyptian indexes ended mixed on Sunday after a steep decline in Wall Street on Friday, traders said. Big caps pulled the country's main index down, they added. Orascom Telecom, the largest Arab mobile operator by subscribers, shed 1.02 per cent to LE4.86 ($0.85) per share. Telecom Egypt fell by 2.16 per cent to LE16.76 per share. EFG-Hermes, Egypt's largest investment bank by market value plunged by 1.76 per cent, closing at LE27.39 per share. The North African country's main index EGX 30 slipped by 1.23 per cent, ending the day's trading at 5,974.59 points. The EGX 70 index, which measures 70 of the country's small and mid caps, added 0.43 per cent to 584.44 points. Volume hit LE350 million, according to the Egyptian Exchange. On Friday, global share prices slid after disappointing revenue reports from bellwether US corporations dovetailed with subdued US inflation and slumping consumer confidence data, driving up the price of Treasuries as investors sought safety, according to Reuters. The combination of reports undermined the fragile confidence in the global economy. On Wall Street, the three major indexes all fell more than 2.5 per cent. The US Labour Department reported consumer prices fell for a third straight month in June due to lower energy costs. A private survey showed US consumer confidence dropped to an 11-month low in July. The fall in consumer prices came one day after the government reported a decline in wholesale prices. Falling prices raise worries of a deflationary spiral in which consumers and businesses hold off on spending because of expectations of further price declines. "US reports provided an unpleasant close to a dismal week of data," said Mike Englund, chief economist at Action Economics in Boulder, Colorado. "The mix leaves an unwelcome lull in activity in the second quarter that has apparently extended into the first month of the third quarter." General Electric Co, the largest US conglomerate, and top US financial groups Bank of America Corp and Citigroup Inc all reported declines in quarterly revenues from the prior year. The revenues, which investors viewed as key to providing insight into future performance, offset the good news of rising profits. "The next step for earnings has to be top line or revenues, and revenues slowed down along with the consumer and the economy in the second quarter," said Gail Dudack, chief investment strategist at Dudack Research Group in New York. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 261.41 points, or 2.52 per cent, at 10,097.90. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 31.60 points, or 2.88 per cent, at 1,064.88. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 70.03 points, or 3.11 per cent, at 2,179.05. "The central issue is which factors have the stronger effect on equity markets: the positive reports on earnings or the burden due to weaker leading indicators? We think that the negative effects from weaker economic indicators will dominate," said Tammo Greetfeld, equity strategist at UniCredit in Munich.
