Orascom Telecom dragged Egypt's main index down on Monday, traders said. For the fifth day in a row, the country's benchmark index EGX 30 fell by 0.55 per cent, ending the day's trading at 6,256.48 points. The EGX 70 index, which measures 70 of the country's small and mid caps, bucked the trend, gaining 0.16 per cent to 550.39 points. Volume hit LE1 billion ($176 million), according to the Egyptian Exchange. Orascom Telecom (OT), the largest Arab mobile operator by subscribers, dipped by 1.51 LE5.22 per share. Egyptian investors made net sell-offs worth LE20.7 million, while Arab and non-Arabs made net purchases of LE9.2 million and LE11.5 million respectively. Shares in developer Talaat Moustafa inched up by 0.13 per cent, to LE7.56. In a related event, the average yield on Egyptian 91-day Treasury bills dipped to 10.179 per cent at an auction on Sunday from 10.222 per cent last week. The Central Bank of Egypt accepted bids for bills worth LE1 billion ($176 million), the same amount it was seeking. It accepted bids at rates between 10.002 and 10.209 per cent, compared with 10.002 and 10.251 percent at the previous auction. The bills are for issue on June 29 and mature on September 28. Meanwhile, world shares firmed slightly after a four-day retreat with investors still cautious about global economic recovery and shrugging off the rather neutral conclusion to a weekend G-20 leaders' summit. The Group of 20 leaders meeting in Toronto agreed on Sunday to take different paths for cutting budget deficits and making their banking systems safer. Most countries had contrasting priorities, reflecting the uneven economic recovery across the globe. "There are some legitimate doubts. Government finances in most of the mature economies are really in trouble, so we have to do something about that. But it will probably pressure growth," said Luc Van Hecka, chief economist at KBC Securities. Morgan Stanley Capital International's (MSCI) all-country world stock index was up 0.2 per cent with its more risk-sensitive emerging market counterpart gaining 0.5 per cent. The main index had four days of losses last week following a 10-session rally. It is down seven per cent for the year-to-date, reflecting the first half's volatility over economic recovery and the eurozone's sovereign debt crisis. European shares struggled to keep up early gains. The FTSEurofirst 300 was up 0.2 per cent. Earlier, Japan's Nikkei slipped half a per cent, with prospects of a stronger yen weakening sentiment. The dollar was up 0.2 percent against a basket of currencies while the euro fell 0.1 percent to $1.2355.
