Egypt stocks start week lower on profit taking

Egypt’s main index EGX30 fell 0.9 percent Sunday to 7,480 points, almost erasing last week’s gains due to profit taking, according to Wafik Dawood, portfolio manager at Cairo-based Compass Capital.

The bourse has surged in the past two weeks after the central bank devalued the pound by around 14 percent in a single day to close the gap between the official and unofficial exchange rates.

Market capitalisation has incurred losses worth 1.4 billion Egyptian pounds ($202.4 million), reaching 404.123 billion pounds during the closing session of Sunday.

Arab investors were net sellers to the tune of 34.4 million Egyptian pounds, while Egyptian investors were net buyers to the tune of 28 million pounds.

Daily stock turnover registered almost 795 million pounds.

Blue chip Commercial International Bank (CIB) fell 2.38 percent to 38.6 pounds a share, and Orascom Telecom for Media and Technology (OTMT) declined 2.53 percent to 0.76 pounds per share.

Naguib Sawiris, OTMT CEO, expressed concerns in a newspaper column on Sunday that government approval necessary to complete his acquisition of CI-Capital, the investment banking arm of the CIB, was under “national security review.”

Broader index EGX70 also slipped 0.3 percent.

Source: Ahram Online