Driven by a profit-taking mood, Egyptian retailers pulled Egypt's main index EGX 30 1.51 per cent down on Thursday, traders said. Egyptians made net sell-offs worth LE36.5 million ($6.6 million), according to the Egyptian Exchange. The North African country's benchmark index EGX 30 shed 114 points, ending the week's trading at 7,467.35 points. The EGX 70 index, which measures 70 of the country's small and mid caps, shed 1.43 per cent to 722.49 points. Volume hit LE1.4 billion. Orascom Construction Industries, Egypt's largest builder by market value, plunged by 3.02 per cent, closing at LE268.68 per share. Orascom Telecom, the largest Arab mobile operator by subscribers, fell by 2.58 per cent to LE7.56 per share. Meanwhile, financial markets ticked over hesitantly yesterday with investors digesting mixed US earnings results and waiting for the next move in Greece's debt crisis, according to Reuters. World stocks as measured by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) were flat with emerging market equities the same. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 gained 0.1 per cent. Earlier, Japan's Nikkei closed down nearly 1.3 per cent. Toyota Motor Corp lost 1.4 per cent, extending losses after Moody's Investors Service cut the automaker's credit ratings, forecasting a long slump in the wake of the company's massive recall. In Europe, the focus remained on Greece and peripheral euro zone economies hit by debt pressures. "The situation in Greece is still worrying and the bond market is not convinced that the rescue efforts are a done deal," said Tammo Greetfeld, an equity strategist at UniCredit. Greece is struggling to convince markets that it can slash its budget deficit and avoid default. It needs to raise 10 billion euros next month with an 8.5 billion euro bond falling due on May 19. Investors drove the yield on 10-year Greek government bonds to 8.4 per cent on Wednesday, the highest since at least 1998. Equity markets were also chewing over mixed earnings from Wall Street. Disappointing outlooks from healthcare companies offset strong earnings from Morgan Stanley and Apple Inc on Wednesday. The euro recovered slightly from earlier lows but was still vulnerable to worries about Greek debt financing. It was up slightly against the dollar at around $1.3417. It hit a 10-month low of $1.3267 hit last month. "The focus has moved from liquidity concerns to one where the market is discounting a debt restructuring or possible default," said Lee Hardman, currency economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
