Egypt’s stock main index lowest since late 2016 as coronavirus fears grow

Egypt’s stock exchange (EGX) has plummeted on Wednesday, with its benchmark EGX 30 falling to its lowest level in nearly four years as the state’s recent measures seemed unable to calm fears of the coronavirus impact.

Seeking to ease the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, the Egyptian government announced Tuesday cutting a tax on dividends for companies listed on its stock exchange by half to 5 percent and lowering a stamp duty on stock market transactions.

Egypt announced on Tuesday 30 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the country’s total to 196 in addition to a total of six deaths.

EGX 30 closed 4.84 percent lower to 8,756 points. The main index has lost almost a third of its value over the past four weeks on concern over the virus threat to the economy.

The broad ranged EGX 100 index also tumbled 5 percent to 927.86 points.

The pandemic fears and heavy selloff from scared Arab and foreign investors have wiped out 18.8 billion Egyptian pounds ($1.2 billion) from the EGX’s market capitalisation on Wednesday.