CAIRO - Motivated by local and Arab buying, Egypt's main index gained 0.7 per cent on Monday, traders said. Locals and Arabs made net purchses worth LE27.4 million ($4.6 million) and LE2.8 million respectively. Non-Arabs made net sell-offs worth LE30.2 million, according to Bourse data. Volume totalled LE617 million, according to Bourse data. The country's benchmark index EGX 30 added 0.71 per cent to 5,550.22 points. The broader index EGX 70 was in the red, slipping by 0.05 per cent to 653.72 points, while the EGX 100 gained 0.29 per cent to 1,014.29 points, according to Bourse data. Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) added 0.68 per cent to LE284 per share. Orascom Telecom, the largest Arab mobile operator by subscribers, fell by 1.65 per cent LE4.18 per share. Egypt's heavyweight Commercial International Bank (CIB) gained 0.36 per cent to LE30.38 per share. Egyptian garment maker El Nasr Clothing & Textile Co (Kabo) reported a net loss of LE10.7 million for the nine months to end-March, Reuters reported, citing the Egyptian Exchange. The firm had posted a net loss of LE6.9 million in the same period a year earlier. Twenty percent of exports are sold in non-Arab countries, mainly Britain, Germany and France, under private labels such as Britain's Tesco. The remaining 8 percent of Kabo's exports are sold in Arab countries under the company's flagship brand Jil. Meanwhile, world stocks touched a 12-week low as Chinese data highlighted concerns about weaker global growth, prompting investors to unwind positions in higher-risk assets and buy top-rated government bonds. The euro hit a record low against the safe-haven Swiss franc while the cost of insuring Greek sovereign debt against default rose to an all-time high. Investors are concerned by signs policymakers are struggling to come to agreement on a second bailout for Athens and that moves to involve private investors will wind up triggering a technical debt default. Chinese stocks ended at a four and half month low, hit by worries about the impact of monetary policy tightening in an economy which is a key driver of world growth. The MSCI world equity index briefly hit its weakest since mid-March, before stabilizing. The index has lost nearly 8 percent since hitting a three-year peak in late April and is very close to erasing all of its 2011 gains. Losses in the MSCI benchmark world index are driven by its emerging component, which fell 2.3 per cent since January, while developed stocks are still up 0.6 per cent year-to-date.
