
Protester opposing Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi throws a molotov cocktail at riot police and other Egyptians fighting alongside police during clashes, along Qasr Al Nil bridge , which leads to Tahrir Square in Cairo January 27, 2013 (Photo: Reuters)
Egypt's stock market slipped slightly on Sunday – defying expectations it would register a record decline – as freed-up cash resulting from the sale of Orascom Construction Industries shares enabled investors to heavily buy and, thus, dodge the effect of ongoing clashes.
Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), Egypt's largest listed company, has successfully ended its Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) programme in the London Stock Exchange, as the company will relocate from Cairo to Amsterdam under the newly-founded construction and fertilizer company OCI NV.
Clashes erupted Saturday between angry protesters and security forces surrounding the Port Said General Prison after a court handed a death sentence to 21 local football fans convicted of attacking and killing opposition Ahly fans during a match, leaving dozens dead. Clashes also erupted on the second anniversary of Egypt's revolution on Friday. Dozens have died during this violent weekend.
Egypt's main benchmark, the EGX 30, fell by 0.02 per cent to 5,688 points. The broader-based EGX 70 index also saw a 0.47 per cent decline.
Around 100 listed stocks suffered losses Sunday, lead by the heavyweight share Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) which tumbled by 1.3 per cent.
"The stock market today went against all our expectations. We expected the day to end with a slide of at least 5 per cent, but it seems that the recent OCI NV has attracted foreign funds to invest," Mohamed Metwally, equity trader at Cairo-based Prime Securities, tells Ahram Online.
"The OCI deal left a lot of free cash in the hands of investors, thus attracting them to buy heavily in the stock market," added Metwally.
Turnover reached a meagre LE432 million Sunday, a rate a lot lower than Wednesday's session where it hit a whopping LE1 billion, which it had never reached since the January 2011 uprising.
"I do not expect the market to respond negatively to the ongoing clashes. Investors who were wary of the country's political uncertainty already left, since violent clashes were likely on the revolution's second anniversary," Metwally explained.
Arab investors were net sellers for the day, offloading a significant LE129million worth of shares, although they were usually net buyers in times of distress. Egyptian and foreign investors were both net buyers picking up almost LE25 million and LE104 million, respectively.
The banking sector performed surprisingly well today, as blue-chip stock Commercial International Bank (CIB) and National Society General Bank (NSGB) both rose by 1.31 per cent and 0.22 per cent.
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