As Votes on New President Begins, Egypt Shares Gain EGP2bn at Open
As presidential elections begin, Egypt’s stocks start trading higher on Monday earning 2 billion Egyptian pounds powered by Egyptian and non-Arab investors’ buying appetite. Accordingly, the main stock index, EGX30 hiked to cross 8815 points.
Egyptians are choosing a new president on Monday in an election that comes nearly a year after the military’s ouster of the nation’s first freely elected president, the Islamist Mohamed Morsi.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian Exchange (EGX)’s indices were wavering in green notes during the opening session of Monday.
Egyptians are to cast their ballots across the country Monday and Tuesday, fulfilling the next steps in the political roadmap announced by then-Defence Minister Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Morsi’s removal.
The balloting is taking place amid tight security, with tens of thousands of troops and police throwing security rings around polling centers across the nation. Egypt has some 53 million registered voters.
El-Sisi and leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi are the only two contenders in the presidential race.
Indices
The Benchmark EGX30 inched up by 0.62% to 8817.44 p, and EGX20 advanced by 0.74% to 10629.86 p.
On the contrary, the mid- and small-cap index, the EGX70 increased by 0.11% to 616.35 p. Price index EGX100 went up by 0.17% to 1081.99 p.
Furthermore, market capitalization reached EGP 497.661 billion, according to data compiled by Amwal Al Ghad English at 11:18 a.m. Cairo time (08:18 GMT as Egypt turned to Daylight saving time).
Trading Volumes & Values
The trading volume has recorded 78.874 million securities worth EGP 225.132 million, exchanged through 5745 transactions during Monday opening.
Also during the opening session, 108 listed securities have been traded in; 16 fell, 70 advanced; while 22 keeping their previous levels.
Investors’ Activities
Egyptian and the non-Arab foreign investors were net buyers capturing at early trade on Monday 84.36% and 5.14% respectively of the total markets, with a net equity of EGP 260.758 thousand and EGP 663.474 thousand respectively, excluding the deals.
On the other hand, Arab investors were net sellers seizing 10.5% of the total market, with a net equity of EGP 924.232 thousand, excluding the deals.
