Egypt’s stocks ended the week in red as its benchmark EGX30 fell 1 per cent to 5.396.85 on Thursday.

Ashraf Abdel-Aziz, head of institutional sales at Arabeya online securities, said profit taking drove the market into negative territory.

“Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH) is still in green as it up 2.2 per cent regardless the news on the Djezzy deal which was denied on Wednesday by the company,” Abdel-Aziz told Ahram Online.

Market blue chips Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) and Commercial International Bank (CIB) saw losses of 1.2 and 1 per cent respectively.

Prominent property companies Talaat Mustafa Group (TMG) and Palm Hills both saw losses of 3 per cent.

Orascom Telecom Media Technology (OTMT) slipped 2 per cent to close at LE1.52 per share.

Telecom Egypt was the only gainer in the telecom sector, climbing 0.3 per cent.

On Tuesday the minister of communication announced that Egypt would launch a tender for mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) licences within four weeks.

Juhayna food industries was among the few shares which finished up, gaining 1.7 per cent on the news that the company’s board of directors had proposed the distribution of LE0.15 cash dividends per share

The broader EGX70 index fell 2.4 per cent despite individuals being net buyers for the day.

Arabs were the only net buyers of LE53 million while Egyptians and foreigners were net sellers by LE28.7 million and LE24 million respectively.

Of the market's 186 listed stocks, only 23 finished up, while 154 recorded losses on a day that saw total turnover of LE612 million.