Motivated by Arab selling and a decline in Orascom Telecom (OT) shares, Egyptian indexes took a dive on Wednesday, traders said. Orascom Telecom, the largest Arab mobile operator by subscribers, fell by 4.55 per cent to LE6.50 ($1.2) per share, they added. The North African country's benchmark index EGX 30 shed 88.9 points to below 7,000 points. It fell by 1.26 per cent, ending the day's trading at 6,973.73 points. The EGX 70 index, which measures 70 of the country's small and mid caps, plunged by 1.88 per cent to 772.53 points. Volume hit LE948.5 million ($173 million), according to the Egyptian Exchange. Orascom Construction Industries, Egypt's largest builder by market value, slipped by 0.74 per cent, closing at LE259.15 per share. Meanwhile, world stocks rose and the euro held on to most of the previous day's sharp gains as strong company earnings from both sides of the Atlantic shifted focus away from concerns about euro zone debt.. French bank BNP Paribas rose more than three per cent after it took fewer bad debt provisions than expected in the fourth quarter, helping it beat forecasts. Wall Street rallied on Tuesday after a strong revenue report from drugmaker Merck & Co and a firmer regional manufacturing survey. Gains in world stocks rekindled investor risk appetite which had taken a hit from concerns about the swollen debt of Greece and other euro zone countries. European ministers told Athens on Tuesday it may need to take further steps to bring its debt under control and calm "irrational" financial markets. "There was a follow through this morning from the positive close that we saw in the United States. BNP Paribas results were good ... and that set quite a positive tone for markets early on," said Nick Serff, market strategist at City Index. The Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) world equity index rose 0.8 per cent while the FTSEurofirst 300 index gained nearly one per cent. Quarterly earnings growth for S&P 500 firms for the fourth quarter stood at 211.3 per cent. Of 76 per cent of S&P 500 firms that have reported their results so far, 72 per cent have beaten their expectations. "Economic data continues to suggest that the recovery should be sustainable. Business and consumer confidence levels have been increasing," Bob Doll, global chief investment officer of equities for BlackRock, said in a note. "Despite all of the macro uncertainty, corporate earnings continue to be impressive." The euro fell 0.2 per cent to $1.3733, having made its biggest one-day gain since July on Tuesday. "The view that the worst-case scenario in Greece is unlikely to unfold has put a floor under the euro, and that has put a squeeze on some long dollar positions," said Daragh Maher, senior currency strategist at Credit Agricole CIB in London. "Still, at the end of the day, the mood on the euro isn't fantastic, No one thinks the Greece situation has gone away."
