For the second day in a row, Egypt's main index was in the red on Arab selling on Wednesday, traders said. Arab investors made net sell-offs worth LE104.7 million ($18.2 million), they added. Locals and non-Arabs made net purchases worth LE53.3 million and LE51.4 million respectively. The North African country's benchmark index EGX 30 fell by 0.75 per cent, ending the day's trading at 6,829.29 points. The EGX 70, which measures 70 of the country's small and mid caps, added 1.25 per cent to 723.16 points. Orascom Construction Industries shed 1.2 per cent to LE271.7 per share. Commercial International Bank slid by 1.3 per cent to LE42.2 per share. Orascom Telecom, the largest Arab mobile operator by subscribers, gained one per cent to LE4.4 per share. Meanwhile, the euro fell to a two-month low against the dollar, extending losses on uncertainty over Ireland's plans to tackle its debts and fears the crisis could spread to other peripheral eurozone countries, Reuters reported. Peripheral government bond yield spreads over Germany widened and a North Korean statement in the wake of Tuesday's artillery clash that the South's action was driving the peninsula to the brink of war prompted investors to seek safe-haven currencies. These factors lifted the dollar to a two-month high against a currency basket, while the troubles in the eurozone's periphery meant the euro quickly shrugged off a record high German Ifo business climate index for November. Uncertainties remained over whether the crisis in Ireland would be resolved, as the teetering government prepared to release a four-year plan to save 15 billion euros as a condition of an EU/IMF bailout. Standard and Poor's cut its sovereign rating on Ireland overnight. At the same time, worries intensified that the crisis could spread to Portugal or even Spain. "The Ifo survey was very strong but it did nothing to lift the euro and the trend is clearly bearish into year-end," said Stephan Maier, currency strategist at Unicredit in Milan. The euro was down 0.2 per cent at $1.3345, having hit a two-month low of $1.3284 and broken below its 100-day moving average -- currently around $1.3297 -- for the first time since early September. It fell nearly two percent on Tuesday. The euro may test $1.3232, the 61.8 percent retracement of its August-November rally, before targeting $1.3000. The euro also fell to a two-month low against the yen and lost ground against the Swiss franc, with both currencies benefiting along with the dollar from investors seeking safe haven-assets. "The euro is very vulnerable due to the Irish crisis and worries about whether Portugal will be next in line. These are not things that will be solved today or tomorrow," said Niels Christensen, currency strategist at Nordea in Copenhagen. The dollar index rose 0.15 percent to 79.798, having hit a high of 79.995, its strongest in two months. Analysts said the eurozone worries eclipsed concerns about tensions between North and South Korea, which most believed would not escalate into something more serious. The fact other perceived higher-risk currencies such as the Australian and New Zealand dollar rose on the day against the US dollar supported this view.
