CAIRO: Egyptian real estate and construction shares took a hit on Monday on the first day of trading after Dubai’s debt crisis broke, driving Egypt’s main index to its biggest daily loss in 13 months.
Index heavyweight Orascom Construction Industries slid 7.8 percent, while Talaat Moustafa plunged 10.5 percent.
The benchmark index sank almost 8 percent to 5,868 points. Dubai called last week for a delay in repaying billions of dollars in debt, spooking global markets.
“Real estate and construction materials shares are mostly affected today, said Osama Mourad, chief executive officer of Arab Finance Brokerage. “OCI (Orascom Construction) is a contractor of some of Dubai’s projects, and therefore it’s directly affected.
Shares of El Sewedy Cables, the Arab world’s biggest cable maker by market value, slumped 12.9 percent, despite news that its exposure to Dubai is almost zero.
Regional investment bank EFG-Hermes tumbled 13.5 percent, and Orascom Telecom slipped 8.1 percent. -Reuters
