Egypt stocks rebound after 7 sessions in red

Egypt stocks rebounded on Tuesday after seven consecutive sessions in the red fuelled by investors’ fears of political instability in advance of mass anti-government protests planned for 30 June. The main EGX30 index rose 1.5 percent for the day to reach 4,848 points, driven by solid performances by market bellwethers Commercial International Bank (CIB) and Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) on the London Stock Exchange. On the Egyptian exchange, CIB and OCI both registered gains, rising 4.7 and 0.8 percent respectively. The broader-based EGX70 index, meanwhile, fell by 0.5 percent, hitting an all-time low of 369,3 points. Previous record-low was set at 385,3 points in June 2012. "Most individual investors are likely to sell before 30 June, when they expect trading to be suspended like what happened following Egypt's 2011 uprising," Eissa Fathi, vice head of securities at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce, told Ahram Online. Egyptian investors ended Tuesday trading as net sellers at some LE29.7 million, while foreign investors represented net buyers at LE29.4 million. Most blue-chip shares registered gains for the day, including Orascom Telecom (up 0.2 percent), Talaat Mostafa Group (up 0.5 percent) and Palm Hills (up 1.7 percent). Total turnover during Tuesday's session stood at some LE232.2 million.