Egypt's main stock index slid 0.31 percent on Monday to sit at 5,432.15 points, as a North Sinai hostage crisis entered its fifth day.
A total of 108 stocks fell on Monday, as nervous Egyptian and Arab investors net sold a combined LE6.38 million worth of shares.
"The continued lack of resolution to the hostage situation in Sinai has made investors nervous," Ashraf Abdel-Aziz, head of institutional sales at Cairo-based Arabia Online Securities, told Ahram Online.
Seven Egyptian security officers were kidnapped by Islamist militants in the north of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Thursday, sparking a hostage crisis which has captivated the nation and exposed the authorities' indecisiveness.
Orascom Construction Industries dropped 0.49 percent, Orascom Telecom Holding 0.63 percent, and Orascom Telecom Media and Technology Holding 2 percent.
Real estate sector blue chips Palm Hills Development Company and TMG Holding also fell by 1.69 percent and 0.24 percent respectively. Six of October Development & Investment (SODIC) however, rose 0.77 percent.
Egyptian Financial Group-Hermes Holding Company dropped 1.35 percent.
Turnover picked up relatively on Monday, to register LE241.8 million.
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