Traders work at Egypt's Stock Exchange in Cairo (Photo: Reuters)
Thursday's trading ended on a negative note after news of an explosion in Cairo's Nasr City district caused stocks to falter despite a spate of positive economic indicators which had pushed the market up earlier in the morning.
Egypt's main index had been gaining 0.48 percent until news of an assassination attempt on Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim led stocks to plummet.
By noon the index had started recovering, rising by 0.06 percent, but the session ended with the EGX30 losing 0.38 percent as foreign investors acted as net-sellers, to the combined value of LE11.5 million.
"This is a continuation of the sideways trend which has characterised the Egyptian market," Osama Mourad, an independent analyst and former chief executive of Arab Finance Brokerage, told Ahram Online.
Egyptian investors, which account for 80 percent of the market, were the only net-buyers for the session, which saw the broader EGX70 rise 0.7 percent.
The initial rise was driven by news of the Egyptian pound strengthening against the dollar at Egypt's largest-yet foreign currency auction on Wednesday, according to Mourad.
The Egyptian pound leapt by 1.2 percent against the dollar on Wednesday as the Central Bank of Egypt auctioned an unprecedented $1.3 billion, indicating confidence that its forex reserves were no longer under threat.
Egypt's forex reserves were up to $18.9 billion at the end of August, the Central Bank also announced on Thursday morning.
Among the prominent shares in the main index, real estate stock Six October Development and Investment was the only gainer, rising 1.13 percent. Property share TMG Holding was down 0.64 percent and Orascom Telecom 0.96 percent.
In the finance sector, Commercial International Bank slid 0.03 percent and Egyptian Financial Group-Hermes 0.51 percent.
Turnover of listed stocks was weak, standing at LE267.4 million.
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