[2008-01-29]  Egypt indexes slide on global markets falls
Egyptian shares slipped on Monday as local retail and Arab investors cashed out of the market after they saw global and regional markets in the red, brokers said.
Egypt's benchmark CASE 30 index lost 2.2 percent to 10,013.44 points, while the Hermes index fell 2.3 percent to 88,693.73 points. The broader CIBC index was 0.9 percent lower at 413.44 points.
"The market was responding to what happened all over the world today," said Mustafa Badra, CEO of Osool Brokerage.
Persistent fears about the world economy battered global stocks again on Monday and drove investors towards safer assets despite expectations of more interest cuts from the Federal Reserve to bolster growth.
"Egyptian retail investors were closely monitoring what is happening in Asia and Europe," a Cairo-based broker said.
He added that Gulf market falls earlier in the day also weighed on Egyptian shares as "the correlation is very high now with the Gulf, especially with Dubai".
Gulf Arab benchmarks slid, with Dubai and Saudi Arabia nursing losses of more than 3 percent, after equity markets in Asia tumbled on concerns about slowing global economic growth.
Arab investors were the only net sellers in Egypt's market on Monday, accounting for 9.7 percent of the selling value according to stock exchange data.
Badra said stocks with global depository receipts (GDRs) in London led losses.
Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), Monday's most heavily traded stock by turnover, fell 2.8 percent to last trade at 569 Egyptian pounds ($102.34).
OCI GDRs in London lost 1.7 percent to $208 by 1350 GMT.
Shares in EFG-Hermes were 4.5 percent lower to 56.50 pounds, while Orascom Telecom dipped 3.9 percent up to 78.35 pounds.
"No body knows what will happen in the future but the Egyptian market has good fundamentals and this might help," the Cairo-based broker said.
Source: © Guardian News and Media Limited 2008