The Egyptian market ended Tuesday’s session in the green, with the benchmark EGX30 index gaining 0.92 per cent for the day to settle at 5,044 points, after briefly falling beneath the 5,000-point mark earlier in the day.
Total daily turnover, meanwhile, increased significantly on previous levels to LE488.8 million, compared to LE344 million the day before.
"The selling powers are weak. The market fell to under 5,000 points during the day, before buyers rallied and pushed it back up again," said Mohamed Metwaly, an equity trader at Cairo-based investment house Prime Securities.
Metwaly pointed to market expectations that the EGX30 would soon fall below 5,000 points to alight at somewhere between 4,600 and 4,700. He added, however, that such a corrective regression in share values would not necessarily be bad for the market, noting that the outcome would largely depend on trade volumes.
"If the market surpasses 5,200 points tomorrow, we’ll see one of two scenarios, depending on turnover," Metwaly told Ahram Online. "If daily turnover increases further – or continues at today’s levels – the market will rise further and could even breach the 5,600-point mark. But if turnover falls again to its previous low levels, the market will plunge into the red again."
The broader-based EGX70 index, meanwhile, gained 1.07 per cent for the day, while the wide-based EGX100 index rose by 1.14 per cent.
Of 178 shares listed on the market, 125 recorded gains while 34 fell in value.
Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) led the gainers, rising by 1.74 per cent.
"OCI led the market upwards, with other shares following suit," said Prime Securities' Metwally.
Local real estate giants, such as the Talaat Mostafa Group (TMG) and SODIC, also recorded gains on Tuesday. "The real estate sector has begun pulling the market upward again after a long period of stagnation last year," said Metwally.
Egyptian investors were the primary buyers in Tuesday's trading session, accounting for almost LE63 million worth of transactions, while non-Arab foreign investors represented net sellers for the day.
Short link: