CAIRO - Egyptian shares fell on Monday on profit-taking amid low volumes, traders said. Volume hit LE422 million ($71 million), they added. The country's benchmark index EGX 30 fell by 1.68 per cent to 5,174.82 points, according to Bourse data. The broader indexes EGX 70 and EGX 100 were also in the red, slipping by 1.18 and 1.36 per cent to 623.5 and 950.55 points. Non-Arabs made net sell-offs worth LE33.3 million, according to Bourse data. Locals and Arabs made net purchses worth LE23.3 million and LE10 million. Egypt's heavyweight Commercial International Bank (CIB) plunged by 2.27 per cent to LE27.13 per share. EFG-Hermes, the country's biggest investment bank by market value, lost 2.4 per cent to LE20.36 per share. Orascom Construction Industries fell by 1.96 per cent to LE266.56 per share. Orascom Telecom, the largest Arab mobile operator by subscribers, shed one per cent LE3.97 per share. Mobinil slid by 3.9 per cent to LE111.41 per share. Globally, the euro, stocks, and bonds of highly indebted European countries fell as investors fled riskier assets on escalating US and eurozone debt worries, while safe-haven gold rose to a fresh high, according to Reuters. European banking shares took a beating after euro zone stress tests results failed to address the potential for a Greek sovereign debt default, which many economists are expecting. Investors were also nervous about the lack of progress in U.S. debt negotiations to avert a government default as a deadline to raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling loomed. "There are two (major) regions in the world -- the United States and the euro area -- where we have debt problems climaxing in the coming days," said Kornelius Purps, fixed income strategist at UniCredit. "There are still so many unsolved issues and therefore investors are definitely on the defensive side." The MSCI world equity index fell 0.6 percent. European stocks lost more than 1 percent on the day, led by banking stocks , after posting the worst weekly performance in nearly four months last week. The euro was down 0.8 per cent versus the dollar at $1.4030. Emerging stocks fell 0.8 per cent. Eight smaller eurozone banks failed the stress tests, in line with expectations, while a further 16 were close to failing. All of them may need to shore up their balance sheets. With fears growing that the debt crisis could spread to Italy or Spain, the eurozone's third and fourth largest economies, Spanish 10-year government bond yields rose to 6.36 per cent, their highest since the introduction of the euro. The Italian equivalent also rose above six per cent.
