CAIRO: Egypt s main index shed almost 2 percent, with all but one of the 30 constituents declining as global sentiment and recent strong gains promote profit-taking.
We re following the global trends, said Karim Hosny from Pharos Securities. Today, when the FTSE opened to the downside we followed.
Sewedy Cables ended down 4.9 percent at LE 79.1, the biggest percentage loss on the index. The stock had traded as high as LE 95 in the previous two sessions.
Some stocks were really overbought and now they are suffering from people taking profits, Hosny says.
Builders and developers also suffered some of the day s heaviest losses, with Palm Hills Developments shedding 4.1 percent, SODIC down 2.9 percent. Orascom Construction lost 3.2 percent.
Talaat Moustafa, which is not on the main index but usually trades heavily, dipped 3.3 percent.
Orascom Telecom said it wants to expand operations in sub-Saharan Africa via acquisitions and is still seeking a small bank to strengthen its mobile banking offering in Pakistan.
The index ended down 1.97 percent at 6,593 points, in volumes well below the five-day average. -Reuters
