Motivated by a bearish sentiment, Egyptian stocks fell on Tuesday, traders said. The North African country's main index EGX 30 shed 75 points, or 1.26 per cent, ending the day's trading at 5,914.22 points. The EGX 70 index, which measures 70 of the country's small and mid caps, plunged by 1.71 per cent to 575.9 points. Egyptian investors made net sell-offs worth LE14 million ($2.5 million), traders added. Orascom Construction Industries fell by 1.97 per cent to LE224.82 per share. Orascom Telecom, the largest Arab mobile operator by subscribers, shed 1.24 per cent to LE4.79 per share. EFG-Hermes, Egypt's largest investment bank by market value, dipped by 1.71 per cent, closing at LE27.04 per share. Meanwhile, financial markets juggled with competing drivers as investors generally boosted stocks in the hope of more good earnings reports and the dollar slipped on concerns about the US economy, according to Reuters. Key earnings from Goldman Sachs and Apple lay ahead but there was growing concern about the US economy after the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market index fell more than expected in July after a popular tax credit for homebuyers expired in April. Investors were also eyeing the Bank of Canada, which was expected to raise interest rates later in the day for the second time in two months. World stocks as measured by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) were up 0.1 per cent with the emerging market benchmark gaining 0.6 per cent. European stocks were breaking a four-day losing streak with the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 up 0.1 per cent. Investors will monitor results from Goldman to gauge the health of the banking industry after peers Bank of America, JPMorgan and Citigroup beat analysts forecast on earnings last week but posted disappointing revenues. "The market will look for guidance (from companies) for Q3 and to see how that is going and will be sensitive to any expressions of confidence or the lack of it," said Bernard McAlinden, investment strategist at NCB Stockbrokers in Dublin. The euro rose to as high as $1.3029 on trading platform EBS, and was later up 0.2 percent on the day at $1.2972. "Sentiment toward the euro is quite positive," said Lutz Karpowitz, senior currency strategist at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. "The short-term sovereign debt problems seem to be under control, and data out of the US is weighing on the dollar."
