For the second day in a row, Egyptian indexes were in the red on Tuesday, traders said. Retail selling pulled the market down as many investors were dominated by a bearish sentiment, they added. Egyptian retailers made net sell-offs of LE69.83 million ($12.7 million), according to the Egyptian Exchange website. The North African country's benchmark index EGX 30 plunged by 1.23 per cent, ending the day's trading at 6,690.91 points. The EGX 70 index, which measures 70 of the country's small and mid caps, slided by 2.34 per cent to 690.96 points. Volume hit LE1.5 billion, traders said. Orascom Construction Industries, Egypt's largest builder by market value, shed 1.59 per cent, closing at LE241.49 per share. Orascom Telecom, the largest Arab mobile operator by subscribers, slipped by 1.45 per cent to LE6.11 per share. In a related event, Egypt's Torah Cement posted a 23 per cent rise in 2009 net profit to LE341.7 million ($62 million), the Egyptian Exchange said. The firm made a net profit of LE277.2 million in 2008. The Egyptian Government stimulus spending on infrastructure and growing demand for housing helped fuel a 25 per cent rise in cement demand in 2009, with total production topping 50 million tonnes. Torah is a subsidiary of Egypt's largest listed cement maker, Suez Cement, which posted a 25 per cent rise in 2009 net profit last month, driven by higher sales in a construction boom. Suez, a subsidiary of Italcementi, holds approximately 26 per cent of Egypt's market share for grey cement and 42 per cent for white cement. Meanwhile, world stocks inched lower from the previous day's six-week high and oil tumbled, while the yen rose broadly as investors grew cautious after a recent rally in riskier assets. US technology shares rallied on Monday after JP Morgan Chase recommended Cisco Systems to investors while an analyst's upgrade sent Research in Motion higher. But the momentum was not kept up in Europe where banks and some resource shares fell. Robust corporate performance and upbeat fourth-quarter results from major companies have helped investors push the benchmark Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) world stocks up to a break-even level for the year after a pullback in January and February. Equities have had a volatile 2010 so far, but globally they remain around 73 per cent higher than the low ebb of the financial crisis exactly 12 months ago. The index then rose around 80 per cent before hitting a high on January 11, this year. "The market had a good recovery after correction lows and it would be tough in the near term, even though you are still in a cyclical bull market, to just race ahead. People are still cautious," said Bernard McAlinden, an investment strategist at NCB Stockbrokers in Dublin. The MSCI world equity index fell 0.2 per cent while the FTSEurofirst 300 index lost 0.4 per cent. Emerging stocks were down 0.15 per cent. The dollar was up 0.2 per cent against a basket of major currencies. The yen rose 0.5 per cent to 89.87 per dollar while the euro lost 0.3 per cent to $1.3597. "The market seems to be in the mood to take a breather at the moment with little appetite for the choppiness and volatility witnessed over the past week. Another sparse data calendar implies little fundamental impulse for currencies today," Credit Agricole said in a note to clients. "This lack of focus would favour a sideways move for most exchange rates, but assuming that the slightly more relaxed approach to risks -- be they Greek variety or otherwise -- continues, the market may feel confident enough to edge back toward other G-10 currencies and away from the yen."
