Egypt stocks slightly tumble nationwide

EGX30 index drops by 0.33 pct on Monday, coinciding with 2nd anniversary of former president Hosni Mubarak's ouster Egypt's bourse slightly declines Monday as experts had expected the anti-government calls for nationwide protests on the second anniversary of Mubarak's fall to send the stock market to a downturn. Egypt's main benchmark index, the EGX30, fell by 0.33 per cent to 5, 694 points. Meanwhile, the broader-based EGX70 witnessed a weak 0.16 per cent rise. Out of 169 traded stocks, 80 shares suffered losses while only 58 registered gains at the end of Monday's trading session. Blue-chip stock Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) unexpectedly rose by 0.63 per cent. "The stock market's performance is very poor today; it is expected that the market will continue its downward trend for the rest of this week unless the political situation stabilises," Mohamed Metwally, equity trader at Cairo-based Prime Securities, told Ahram Online. Thirteen Egyptian political parties and movements have announced plans to stage mass anti-government rallies on Monday to mark the second anniversary of former president Hosni Mubarak's ouster, with fears that protests might turn violent. Trade volume remains eerily low, standing at a mere LE271 million on Monday, reflecting investors' continued wariness of the current political situation in Egypt. "Stability is a prerequisite for the recovery of the stock market; investors have been exiting the market since the start of the year and this is not a good sign," Metwally explained. Arab and foreign investors were net sellers for the day, vending almost LE7 million and LE27 million respectively. Egyptian investors were net buyers picking up almost LE35 million worth of shares. The banking sector suffered tremendously today, as the heavyweight Commercial International Bank (CIB) slid by 0.95 per cent. From Ahramonline