CAIRO - Egypt's main index shed 96 points on Tuesday as big caps were in the red on a profit-taking mood, traders said. The North African country's benchmark index EGX 30 plunged by 1.38 per cent, ending the day's trading at 6,880.6 points. But the EGX 70, which measures 70 of the country's small and mid caps,gained 0.79 per cent to 714.25 points. Orascom Telecom, the largest Arab mobile operator by subscribers, dipped by 2.9 per cent to LE4.36 ($0.76) per share. Orascom Construction Industries shed 1.23 per cent to LE274.92 per share. EFG-Hermes, the country's largest investment bank by market value, slid by 3.58 per cent to LE34.5 per share. Talaat Moustafa fell by 1.22 per cent to LE8.08 per share. Volume hit LE1.5 billion, according to the Egyptian Exchange. Meanwhile, European shares hit a three-week low as investors worried about economic and political uncertainty in Ireland, and the possible effect on other eurozone countries, and North Korea's shelling of South Korea, Reuters reported. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.6 per cent at 1,086.80 points at 12:00 GMT, falling for a third straight session and having fallen as far as 1,082.09, its lowest since October 29. Banks were among the heaviest casualties, extending declines from the previous session. Bank of Ireland tumbled 23.1 per cent to a low for 2010. "There's a lack of clarity on the Irish situation. We have a headline figure of what is available (up to 90 billion euros in aid), but we don't know how it will be distributed to banks and whether it is sufficient," Mark Bon, fund manager at Canada Life in London, said. "Although there's been a bit of tension between the two countries (North and South Korea), it's never quite escalated like this. It all adds to the nervousness." Ireland's government was on a knife-edge with damaged Prime Minister Brian Cowen challenging the opposition to let an austerity budget pass and trigger an EU/IMF bailout before early elections. Heavyweight Spanish banks Banco Santander and BBVA fell 3.2 and 2.9 per cent respectively. Yields jumped on Spain's issue of short-term Treasury bills compared with a tender a month ago, reflecting the impact of Ireland's debt crisis on other countries in the eurozone periphery that are seen most at risk. Spain's Treasury sold 3.26 billion euros ($4.48 billion) of three- and six-month bills on Tuesday, near the bottom of its three billion to four billion euros target range. Other banks on the slide included BNP Paribas and Credit Suisse, down 2.7 and 2.2 percent respectively. "People are concerned about the capital adequacy of banks, and whether they might need to raise more capital," Bon said. Across Europe, Germany's DAX fell 0.2 per cent, while London's FTSE 100 and France's CAC 40 fell 0.7 and 0.9 per cent respectively. Ireland's ISEQ, Spain's IBEX, Portugal's PSI 20 and Italy's FTSE MIB fell between 0.5 and 2.3 per cent. Autos gained with Daimler and BMW up 0.9 percent on reports they will shorten their holiday period due to strong demand.
