Egypt's main index EGX 30 shed 113 points on non-Arab selling on Thursday, traders said. Declines in big caps added to market woes, they said. Orascom Construction Industries, Egypt's largest builder by market value, shed 2.79 per cent, closing at LE251.93 ($46) per share. Orascom Telecom, the largest Arab mobile operator by subscribers, plunged by 2.46 per cent to LE6.34 per share. The North African country's benchmark index EGX 30 fell by 1.62 per cent, ending the week's trading at 6,860.7 points. The EGX 70 index, which measures 70 of the country's small and mid caps, was flat at 772.35 points. Volume hit LE1.2 billion, according to the Egyptian Exchange. Non-Arabs made net sell-offs exceeding LE73.7 million, while Egyptian retailers made net purchases of LE55.8 million. In a related event, Egypt's Commercial International Bank (CIB) said consolidated net profit for 2009 rose 25 per cent to 1.71 billion Egyptian, in line with analysts' estimates, Reuters reported. Six analysts surveyed by Reuters projected, on average, net profit of LE1.7 billion, with estimates ranging from LE1.68 billion to LE1.75 billion. Net loans and overdrafts at CIB, Egypt's No. 1 private bank by assets, increased to LE27.30 billion as of December 31 from LE26.3 billion a year earlier, the bank said in an emailed statement. Customer deposits climbed to LE54.65 billion from LE48.79 billion, while total assets increased to LE64.12 billion from LE57.46 billion. CIB slipped by 0.75 per cent, closing at LE63.1 per share. The country's National Societe Generale Bank (NSGB) net profit rose 4.1 per cent, the Egyptian Exchange said, beating analyst expectations. The bank's net profit was LE1.18 billion Egyptian pounds, up from LE1.14 billion in 2008. A Reuters survey of seven analysts had projected, on average, a net profit of LE1.03 million, with forecasts ranging from LE969 million to LE1.09 billion. NSGB is owned more than 70 per cent by Societe General of France. Globally, the dollar rose broadly while stocks and oil slipped as stronger US economic data raised the prospect of the withdrawal of monetary stimulus, while an IMF plan to sell more gold hit commodity-linked stocks. Mixed results from European financial firms also weighed on the region's shares, while the euro remained under pressure from persistent concerns over Greece's debt woes. Upbeat data on the housing and industrial sector and evidence that the Federal Reserve had discussed strategies to withdraw some of its emergency stimulus highlighted a more favorable outlook in the United States, compared with the euro zone where a lingering debt crisis is set to weigh on growth. "The Fed minutes have helped the dollar as they were perceived as hawkish," said Johan Javeus, currency strategist at SEB in Stockholm. "Whereas before there was a sense that the (European Central Bank) would be ahead of the Fed in raising rates it now looks increasingly likely that the Fed will move before the ECB." The dollar rose 0.3 per cent against a basket of major currencies while the euro lost a third per cent to $1.3560. The Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) world equity index fell 0.3 per cent after hitting its strongest level in almost two weeks on Wednesday. The FTSEurofirst 300 index dropped 0.1 per cent. French bank Societe Generale fell after it reported fourth-quarter net profit below the previous three months' while insurer AXA almost quadrupled annual net earnings. Emerging stocks fell half a percent while emerging Asian stocks lost 0.7 per cent. The premium investors demand to hold 10-year Greek sovereign debt rather than Germany's rose to a one-week high of around 338 basis points. Greece, whose debt mountain is set to reach 120 per cent of gross domestic product, needs to sell some 53 billion euros in debt this year, including at least 20 billion in April and May, and is looking for EU support to reduce its borrowing costs. Commodity prices and related stocks and currencies were hit by a combination of a stronger dollar and the International Monetary Fund's plan for a phased sale of 191.3 tonnes of gold earmarked in its plan to raise new resources for lending.
