[2008-01-21]  Egypt shares dip on regional and global selling
Egypt's main stock indexes extended losses on Sunday as global declines drove foreign and retail investors to selling big caps, brokers said.
The benchmark Case 30 index and the well-watched Hermes index lost 3 percent, with the Case index ending at 10,406.02 points and Hermes at 92,570.37 points.
The broader CIBC index was nearly flat at 437.88 points.
"The global selling on Friday pushed many local retailers to selling as they expected an aggressive exit from foreigners, who own 50 percent of the big caps free float," Tarek el-Khayyat of Delta Securities said. Foreign investors were net sellers on the day, accounting for 20 percent of the selling value.
U.S. stocks tumbled for a fourth day on Friday to close out the worst week for the S&P 500 in five years on worry that a White House effort to boost the economy may not prevent a recession.
European stocks also ended lower on Friday, dropping for the tenth time in 13 sessions as banks and insurers tumbled on renewed worries over mortgage-related losses.
"The regional fall in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi also added to the selling spree," Khayyat said. "People watched these markets close in the red and they were selling more."
The Saudi benchmark index plunged 7.5 percent earlier on Sunday, while the Abu Dhabi benchmark index was 3.1 percent down, its biggest one day loss since June 2006.
Brokers said blue chips with global depositary receipts (GDRs) in London were hit after their GDRs slumped on Friday.
Shares in Orascom Telecom were 4.4 percent lower at 84 Egyptian pounds ($15.27) after the company's GDR lost 2.3 percent on Friday to $75.50.
Investment bank EFG-Hermes lost 3.9 percent to 61.94 pounds after its GDRs were 0.5 percent down to $23.63.
Brokers said Telecom Egypt also suffered some profit-taking, dipping 4.5 percent to 21.25 pounds after gaining more than 6 percent since the beginning of the year.
Shares of Nile Cotton Ginning bucked the market trend and added 3.5 percent to 6.82 pounds in heavy trading. The firm said on Wednesday it would expand its activities to real estate.

Source: © Guardian News and Media Limited 2008