Profit-taking hits Egypt stocks on Wednesday, EGX 30 falls 1.3%

Egypt’s stock market retreated Wednesday pulled by profit-taking on big gains achieved during November.

Main index EGX 30 fell 1.34 percent, to 11348.37 points, as trading volume jumped by roughly 50 percent from the previous session. Ninety percent of the 30 most liquid shares closed down.

Shares in most Egyptian stocks have enjoyed spectacular performances since authorities ditched the Egyptian pound’s U.S. dollar peg on November 3rd.

Other indices; EGX50 EWI index pushed down 1.95 percent, to 1829.26 points; EGX20 dropped 1.19 percent, to 11018.11 points.

Mid- and small-cap index EGX70 declined 1.84 percent, to 448.75 points. Price index, EGX100 also plummeted 1.58 percent, to 1062.14 points.

Market Cap

Market capitalisation incurred losses worth 5.9 billion Egyptian pounds (around $325.5 million), to record 563.988 billion pounds during the closing session of Wednesday.

Turnovers

The bourse’s trading volume reached 504.663 million securities, with turnovers, closing at 1.891 billion pounds, exchanged through 39,327 transactions.

Also during the closing session, 186 listed securities have been traded in, 135 declined, 29 advanced; while 21 kept their previous levels.

Investors’ Activities

Foreign institutional funds, which have been net buyers of Egyptian shares since the float, remained buyers on Wednesday, exchange data showed.

Local investors were net sellers capturing 78.45 percent of the total market, with a net equity of 296.825 million pounds, excluding the deals.

On the contrary, non-Arab foreign and Arab investors remained net buyers controlling 14.78 and 6.77 percent respectively of the total markets, with a net equity of 202.820 million pounds and 94.005 million pounds, respectively, excluding the deals.