CAIRO: Two of the main national stock indexes fell more than 3 percent on Wednesday on the back of a global market sell-off, with the cement and steel sectors also hit after a government decision to slap duties on exports.
Retail investors heavily sold shares as a global selling spree of stocks that started in China on Tuesday gathered steam after Wall Street stocks shed more than 3 percent.
The international and emerging markets were all affected by the falls in the Chinese stock market yesterday, said Yasser Hassanein of Dynamic Securities.
In Egypt, we were expecting a correction, [but] we also expect it to pick-up again soon.
The steel and cement stocks fell after the government s decision a day earlier to slap duties on exports of cement and steel.
Sinai Cement led the market as the most-heavily traded stock by turnover at LE 979 million ($172 million), and fell by 5.8 percent to LE 54.04.
Other cement stocks, such as Misr Beni Suef Cement, Tora Cement, Helwan Cement, Misr Cement Qena, and Suez Cement, Egypt s top cement producer, also declined.
In the steel sector, Ezz Steel Rebars fell 6.1 percent to LE 51.99 a share while sister company Ezz Dekheila dropped 4.1 percent to LE 961.
Traders said the knocks taken by the two sectors were temporary because of the long-term plans Egypt has for construction and urban development.
The demand for steel and cement is going to be huge in Egypt in the future due to a lot of real estate and tourism projects – it s going to be needed locally, added Hassanein.
Some foreign institutional buyers saw the drop in the market as a chance to buy cheap stocks, said Hashem Ghoneim of El Nour Securities.
It was a buying opportunity for foreign buyers. They were net buyers in the market by LE 211 million, he said.
