For the fourth day in a row, Egypt's main index slipped on Monday, traders said. Following global markets down, the country's benchmark index EGX 30 slipped by 0.32 per cent, ending the day's trading at 6,282.82 points. The EGX 70 index, which measures 70 of the country's small and mid caps, fell by 0.24 per cent to 607.77 points. Non-Arab made net sell-offs worth 12.6 million ($2.2 million), while Arabs made net purchases of LE13.2 million. Orascom Construction Industries, Egypt's largest builder by market value, fell by 0.6 per cent, closing at LE250.15 per share. Orascom Telecom, the largest Arab mobile operator by subscribers, gained 0.2 per cent to LE5.13 per share. Volume totalled LE325 million, according to the Egyptian Exchange. Egyptian investment bank Beltone Financial, the target for an acquisition that was scrapped in July, posted a 16.3 per cent rise in first-half net profit to LE6 million, according to Reuters. The firm made net profit of LE5.1 million in the same period a year earlier. The investment bank oversees some $5 billion in assets and has offices in New York, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the Emirates. EFG-Hermes, Egypt's largest listed investment bank, has said second-quarter net profit fell 45 per cent as investors were rattled by the European debt crisis and weak US recovery. The firm, , said net profit fell to LE96.4 million from LE176 million in the same period of 2009. That was above forecasts of 74 million pounds from analysts at HSBC and 87 million from Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Meanwhile, world stocks fell for the fifth day and US 10-year bond yields hit a 16-month low as far weaker than expected growth numbers from Japan added to concerns over a faltering global economic recovery. World stocks measured by the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) All-Country World Index fell 0.2 per cent, with Europe's FTSEurofirst 300 down 0.8 per cent. Japan's Nikkei fell 0.6 per cent, recovering from an early drop of as much as 1.7 per cent after gross domestic product grew just 0.1 per cent in the second quarter compared to forecasts of 0.6 per cent. "What has been driving sentiment for a little while now has been this concern about the loss of momentum in the global recovery," said Mike Lenhoff, chief strategist and head of research at Brewin Dolphin in London. "The GDP figures out of Japan this morning clearly didn't help. For the balance of the month, we are probably not going to go anywhere. The earnings season was very good but it's behind us now." The euro recovered from near one-month lows against the dollar, up 0.3 per cent at $1.2787. "There is nothing to cheer about," said Koen De Leus, economist at KBC Securities. "Economic figures, certainly in the United States, are really disappointing and pointing toward going more and more close to a double dip. This time, it doesn't hurt to be little bit cautious," De Leus added.
