Egypt’s stocks were hit with another heavy loss on Monday as the main index, EGX30, dropped 3.5 percent and recorded 7,805 points. Insiders offered various explanations for the causes of the loss.

Earlier on Monday, Mohamed Omran, the head of the Egyptian bourse, stated that the loss is the result of the profit- taking which followed gains over the last three months.

“The stock market is about gains and losses, not just profits as people think,” Omran said at a press conference in Cairo.

On the other hand, Eissa Fathi, the vice head of the securities division at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce, claimed that the Muslim Brotherhood's "violent tactics" have impacted the stock exchange, prompting selling which has driven the market down.

“It is illogical for investors to sell shares at devalued prices, so this is not profit-taking, the selling is purposeful” Fathi commented.

Egypt’s broader index, EGX70, plunged 3.6 percent in a session that saw foreign and domestic investors as net sellers with some LE469.5 million and LE87.5 million respectively.

According to Reuters, private equity firm Actis has reduced its holding in Commercial International Bank (CIB) Egypt's largest listed bank, to 6.5 percent, CIB said on Monday.

“Foreigners were net sellers with that large amount due to the Commercial International Bank (CIB) transaction,” he added. CIB stated that Actis sold a 2.6 percent stake in the bank "in the open market to a group of international investors".

The shares were sold to Egyptian and other Arab institutions for LE816 million ($117 million), sources at Cairo's stock exchange said.

It was not clear why Actis, which invests in Asia, Africa and Latin America, reduced its holding.

Actis bought 9.1 percent of CIB in July 2009, making the private equity firm its largest single shareholder, the bank said.

CIB slipped 4.2 percent, closing at LE36.2 per share.

Property shares Talaat Moustafa Group (TMG), Palm Hills Development (PHD), and Six of October Development and Investment (SODIC) all tumbled 3.8 percent, 6.3 percent and 5.5 percent to close at LE7.8, LE3.7 and LE25.7 per share respectively.

Telecom Egypt and Global Telecom lost 1.8 percent and 3.2 percent registering LE17 and LE4.4 per share respectively.