File image of Egyptian Bourse (Photo: AP)
Egypt's stock market ended its two-day rally on Tuesday, losing 2.37 per cent to end the day at 5,030.75.
"The decline was normal after a period of gains and high profits. The market reached its target of 5.200 points. I can say it is even healthy; if the decline was postponed maybe the damage would have been bigger," explains Mohamed Metwali, an account manager at Prime Securities.
Turnover was still relatively high at LE550,150. Egyptian investors constituted the day's main buyers while foreigners ended the day as net sellers.
"The market wasn’t expected to gain further, so it was time for profit talking. It is possible that the market will continue its decline tomorrow unless the profits of some companies go up," adds Metwali.
The telecom sector had the largest turnover at LE107.62 million, 19.50 per cent of the total. OTMT achieved the highest turnover in the sector at LE50.81 million.
However, the sector registered a significant decline, dragged down by Orascom Telecom Media and Technology Holding(OTMT), which lost 5.44 per cent.
"The telecom sector maintained an upward direction for a long period of time. OTMT gained more than 70 per cent in the space of one month. Today's decline isn't very significant compared to recent gains," says Metwali.
Orascom Telecom Holding (OT) lost 3.36 per cent and Mobinil lost 1.88 per cent. Mobinil announced net losses of LE177 million ($29.32 million) for Q4/2011 after the market closed on Monday, hit by spiralling operating costs.
The market's biggest cap Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) lost 1.84 per cent of its value. Top losers and gainers were not among the most active. Sharm Dreams Co. for Tourism Investment was the biggest loser, finishing down 9.49 per cent, followed by East Delta Flour Mills, which lost 8.46 per cent.
Top gainer was Minapharm Pharmaceuticals, up almost 10 per cent, then Rakta Paper Manufacturing, up 6.5 per cent.
Of the market's 184 listed stocks, 26 finished up on Tuesday, while 150 recorded losses.
Broader indices on the other hand recorded smaller losses on Tuesday. The EGX70 fell 1.47 per cent and the EGX100 fell 1.65 per cent.
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