Big caps pushed Egyptian indexes up on Monday, traders said. Despite declines in early morning, non-Arab buying helped Egypt's main index EGX 30 to close 0.42 per cent up, they added. The North African country's benchmark index EGX 30 ended the day's trading at 6,725.28 points. The EGX 70 index, which measures 70 of the country's small and mid caps, added 1.3 per cent to 730.97 points. Volume hit LE1.5 billion ($276 million), according to the Egyptian Exchange. Orascom Construction Industries, Egypt's largest builder by market value, inched up by 1.14 per cent, closing at LE267.31 per share. Orascom Telecom, the largest Arab mobile operator by subscribers, rose by 0.56 per cent to LE28.71 per share. Meanwhile, raw material prices advanced on strong Chinese demand hopes and on a weaker dollar, lifting commodity shares and global equities, while the euro hit a four-month low against a broadly firmer pound, Reuters reported. Safe-haven government bonds were steady. European shares advanced, recovering some of the previous session's losses after JPMorgan Chase & Co reported higher loan losses. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 rose 0.8 percent, lifting the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) All-Country World Index 0.1 per cent higher. The euro hit a four-month low against a broadly firmer pound as persistent concerns over Greece's ballooning fiscal deficit kept the single European currency under selling pressure in subdued trade. As Greece's debt burden highlighted the fragility of some euro zone members, investors awaited comments from a meeting of the 16-country bloc's finance ministers on Monday. The ministers are due to discuss the unreliability of Greek statistics, and are said to be running out of patience with Athens as it has repeatedly misled its euro zone peers about the size of its budget deficit. "The Greek developments are definitely casting a shadow on the euro," said Rob Minikin, currency strategist at Standard Chartered in London. "It underlines how a strong euro could compound problems in the region, and reinvigorates the argument for a weaker euro," he said, adding he expected the euro to weaken broadly in the near term. Asian stocks fell after No. 2 US bank JPMorgan reported heavy losses on mortgage and credit card loans which cast doubt on consumer demand in the region's largest export market. The US dollar and the yen firmed as investors unwound riskier trades, while the euro remained under pressure, hurt by concerns about fiscal problems buffeting Greece, which has seen its budget deficit balloon and its credit ratings cut. Euro zone finance ministers had little patience left for Greece after it misled them about the size of its deficit and would be ready to impose sanctions on Athens if needed, euro zone sources said. "If your main export market is not going to see a consumer-led recovery this time, that is quite negative for Asia," said Andrew Sullivan, a sales trader with broker MainFirst Securities in Hong Kong. Japan's Nikkei average fell 1.83 per cent, coming off a 15-month high struck last week, with bank shares leading declines over fears the market's recent rally was over done. "JPMorgan's earnings dragged down other U.S. banking shares, and Japanese peers may follow suit, but on the whole, the bank's earnings helped lead to profit-taking as there were concerns that those shares had already gone up too high," said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of equity marketing at Nikko Cordial Securities.
