[2008-02-12]  Orascom Construction pulls Egyptian stocks down
Shares of Orascom Construction Industries helped pull Egypt's benchmark index to its lowest close in over two weeks as investors from the Gulf Arab region shed Egyptian shares.
OCI, which has shed about 3 percent in the past four sessions, dropped 0.9 percent to 555 Egyptian pounds ($100.64), while the Case 30 index slid 0.4 percent to 9,958.45 points.
Drops in Gulf markets including Dubai and Saudi Arabia pushed Gulf investors to sell in Egypt, said Mohamed Tawfiq at Cairo-based Delta Securities.
"There are selling flows from the Gulf markets," he said.
Arab investors were net sellers in Egypt by 40.9 million pounds, stock exchange data showed. The well watched Hermes index lost 0.6 percent to 88,235.58 points and the broader CIBC index rose 1.2 percent to 431.49 points.
Drops in global stock markets on worries of a deeper global economic slowdown also weighed on Egypt's market, dampening foreign buying and worrying local investors, said Mohamed Radwan of Cairo-based Pharos Securities.
"There is a lack of appetite in general globally and locally everyone is quite turned off and worried the market is going lower," he said.
Housing stocks also weighed on the index as local retail investors sold, Radwan said. Madinet Nasr Housing dropped 3.2 percent to 58 pounds.
Shares of Mobinil bucked the trend, climbing 1.4 percent to 215.01 pounds, the share's fourth session of gains.
HSBC raised its price target on Mobinil to 270 pounds and Goldman Sachs raised its target to 225 pounds last week.
Source: © Guardian News and Media Limited 2008