Market report: Egypt's bourse rebounds on Tantawi's statement

After a rocky week that saw trading suspended, on Wednesday Egypt's bourse made back some ground

Egypt's benchmark EGX30 entered the black after plunging 10 sessions, rising by 1.1 per cent, reaching 3,717.48 points. "Maybe the statement of the head of SCAF (the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces), Tantawi, to the Egyptians had a positive impact on investors," Mostafa Badra, a capital market expert, opined.
Badra explained that the part of Tantawi's statement about Egypt's economy falling stimulated Egyptians to rescue the bourse. "It was a surprise to find it in black today."
Broader indices also went up, following the market trend, with the EGX70 and EGX100 increasing 3.8 per cent and 2.6 per cent respectively. "Mostly individual shares are up, which contributed in pushing up the whole market," Badra added.
The market has retrieved about LE4 billion of its capital, reaching on Wednesday's session LE294.7 billion.
All sectors ended the session in the black, except banks, which were pushed down by the share tumble of Commercial International Bank (down 0.8 per cent).
Mobinil shares also declined in the EGX30 list, by 2.1 per cent.
The rest of heavyweight shares climbed, as EFG-Hermes, Egypt Telecom, Orascom Construction Industries and Orascom Telecom were up 1.5 per cent, 2.7 per cent, 1.2 per cent and 0.7 per cent respectively.
Talaat Mustafa Group (TMG) rose by 4.7 per cent on a court ruling Tuesday saying that its land contract for its Madinaty Project is valid, ending a long-running legal battle over the $3 billion scheme.
Foreigners were net sellers at LE16.1 million, while Egyptians were net buyers at LE23.4 milion.
From 176 listed stocks, 143 gained ground and 27 lost in a session that saw a turnover of LE 267 million.
Egypt's bourse suspended trading on 42 stocks that fell more than five per cent during early trading on Wednesday.
The prominent suspended shares were Ezz Steel, EFG-Hermes and Juhayna Food Industries.
Egypt's main index plunged to its lowest levels in 32 months this week after days of street clashes between protesters and police. The stock market suspended trade for an hour Tuesday after the broader index fell more than five per cent during the day.