CAIRO - A strong selective buying of a number of big caps, shares in cement and milling companies soothed the pressure on Egypt's main index. Egypt's benchmark index EGX 30 shed 3.73 per cent to 4,950.82 points. Beating all odds, the broader indexes EGX 70 and EGX 100 were in the black, gaining 2.55 and 0.86 per cent to 503.77 and 812.56 points respectively, they added. "Fortunes are made at times of crisis as it is happening in Egypt now," Mohamed Abdel Salam, the Chairman of the Egyptian Exchange, told a press conference in Cairo at the Bourse premises yesterday. Volume hit LE1.8 billion ($302 million), according to the Egyptian Exchange. Abdel Salam called on Egyptians to "snatch this golden opportunity" and buy stocks, which have fallen to record lows. "Share prices will not stand at their very low levels now. They will pick up later on so it is time for buying now," Abdel Salam said. The Bourse, which gained 15 per cent in 2010, has lost 30.7 per cent this year, according to Bourse data. He said the Bourse had received more than 600 orders from local, Arab and global investment funds to invest in Egyptian stocks. "Experience has proved that the best time to buy is the time of crises, when stocks bottom out," he said. Abdel Salam said details of a new fund, Misr Al-Mustaqbal, for investing in Egyptian stocks would be announced Sunday. "All Egyptians are invited to invest in the new fund," he said. Orascom Telecom jumped by 9.94 per cent to LE3.87 per share. Shares in milling companies North Cairo Mills and East Delta Flour Mills rose by 9.99 and 9.77 per cent to LE15.97 and LE30.12. Sinai Cement and Tourah Cement added 9.98 and 9.97 per cent to LE51.89 and LE30.76 per share respectively. Ezz Steel shares resumed trading after the stock was suspended on Wednesday until its ownership and financial position were clarified. The stock slid by 9.98 per cent to LE14.34 per share. The reopening of the Bourse has come under tight security. Armed military vehicles are posted at the ends of a street leading to the Egyptian Exchange. Soldiers armed with machine guns were posted outside. Although rapid, the drop did not come as a surprise. Analysts had expected sharp losses as investors pulled their money from the market amid ongoing investigations of former regime officials and some of the country's top businessmen whose companies are listed on the exchange. "I was not surprised at all. It's something to be expected give the market was offline for 7 weeks," John Sfakianakis, the chief economist for the Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based Banque Saudi-Fransi, told AP. "The situation in Egypt has not created confidence among international and of course local investors." Sfakianakis said he believed the selloff was "healthy" because too much selling pressure had been built up due to the market's prolonged closure. Several companies announced plans to buy back shares in an apparent effort to try to prop up prices and stem any losses. Topping the list was property developer Amer Group, which planned on buying 101 million of its shares, according to an exchange statement.
