The benchmark EGX30 slipped 0.28 per cent to end the day at 5,739 points, weighed down by drops for shares in some of the country's industrial heavyweights.

 

From the 183 stocks traded on Thursday, 64 gained in value but 92 declined. The broader-based EGX70 traded flat.

 

"The general performance was still good," market analyst Marwa Hamid told the state-run MENA news agency. "There seems to be new liquidity flowing into the market, but perhaps the rumours of investigations into OCI led some investors to postpone their buying."

 

Egypt's largest listed firm Orascom Construction Industries saw some of the day's heaviest trade, slipping 1.03 per cent following local media reports that it might face government investigation for a 2007 tax exemption.

 

OCI denied the news, saying that it has abided by Egyptian laws and does not expect any retroactive tax payments.

 

Egyptian stocks plummeted earlier in the week, reacting to President Morsi's Saturday speech marking the 6 October national day in which he warned of looming corruption investigations for several unnamed companies.

 

The market surged back into the green on Wednesday on the back of relatively bullish economic growth predictions from Prime Minister Hisham Qandil and suggestions that a long-awaited $4.8 billion IMF loan is imminent.

 

Thursday turnover was a healthy LE822.5 million, around LE308.4 million of which was tied up in stocks for local vehicle assembler GB Auto.

 

Cushioning the market from heavier losses were the performances of high-caps Telecom Egypt, up 1.73 per cent, Citadel Capital, which gained 2.46 per cent, and Commercial International Bank, up 1 per cent.

 

Egyptians made up 88 per cent of the day's trade and, along with non-Arab foreign investors, sold more stocks than they bought.