A selling spree hit the Egyptian stock market after an Egyptian set himself on fire in Downtown Cairo driven by economic woes. The incident weighed on Egypt's benchmark EGX30 index, which fell 2.4 per cent to its lowest level since December 22, 2010.

Khaled Serry Siam Head of Egyptian Stock Exchange urged investors not to  be misled by such events.

He added that the performance of the Egyptian economy, according to global indicators, are good, and the stock market is booming with no need for investors to panic.

Traders explain that the shift toward selling was instigated by foreign traders, mainly in the investment portfolios owned by Arabs.

”The situation calls for concern, the selling spree focuses on heavyweights' equity," says Mohsen Adel, managing director at Pioneers Investment Bank.

“The fear from the political condition is expected to dominate until the end of the week, the Egyptian pound also fell today to its lowest level against the dollar in almost six years, recording LE5.83," added Mohsen.

Foreign investors tended towards loading off their equities, selling twice as much as bought with a net worth of LE240.4 million.

Arabs and nationals tended to buy, with a net value of LE180 million and LE60 million respectively.

Most leading stocks ended in the negative territory, led by EFG-Hermes that fell 6.3 per cent to LE 31.8. Commercial International Bank (CIB) dropped 3.5 per cent to LE 41. 8. Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) dipped 1.7 per cent to LE 284.8.

Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH), however, rose almost 1 per cent after the announcement of Vimpelcom's board approval of a revised bid for Italy's Wind and Cairo-based Orascom Telecom, both owned by Naguib Sawiris. Telenor, one of the main stakeholders in Vimpelcom demanded its pre-emptive rights be safeguarded in the sale of new shares.

Nationals dominated 70 per cent of total trading and Retail investors controlled 54.6 per cent of total trading.

The EGX70 followed the same trend as the EGX30, dropping by 4.4 per cent to close at 743 points.