Egypt indexes extend losses as uncertainty over protests looms

Egyptian indexes closed lower on Monday, stretching last session’s sharp decline following small yet rare protests which broke out in several Egyptian cities over the weekend.

On Friday, hundreds of people rallied in central Cairo and several other cities across the country against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, responding to an online call for a demonstration against government corruption.

Egyptian authorities have detained at least 373 people as they try to quash the rare outbreak of protest, rights monitors told Reuters on Monday.

The blue-chip stock index EGX 30 dropped 1.5 percent, closing at 13,753 points. The drop added to the index’s previous session loss of 5.3 percent, its biggest single-day fall since mid-2016 with all its stocks slipping into the red.

Non-Arab foreigners remained net sellers, according to the stock exchange.

The broader stock index EGX 100 also inched 1.7 percent lower, hitting its deepest trough since April 2017.The EGX 100 index dived 5.7 percent on Sunday, the most in one day since November 2012, causing trading to be suspended due to a 5 percent swing for the first time since 2016.