CAIRO: Stocks drifted downwards on Sunday in thin trade with no news to move prices decisively in either direction, brokers said.
Sentiment among local retail investors was negative while non-Arab foreigners were net buyers by a margin of LE 85 million ($15 million). The market was very quiet and it s drifting. There seems to be not much news, said Yasser Hassanein of Dynamic Securities.
Mohamed Radwan of Delta Securities said investors had expected the market to be more positive after rebounds in the United States and Europe on Friday.
But sentiment is still quite negative and that pulled down shares in the textile, housing and steel sectors, he added.
The mood hit Egyptian Resorts, the most heavily traded stock, which fell 5 percent to last trade at LE 24.12. Of the 100 busiest stocks, six declined.
But overall volume was low at LE 548 million, about half the volume on a busy day.
Sixth of October Development and Investment fell 2.8 percent to LE 146, and Cairo Housing fell 3.5 percent to LE 13.94.
The benchmark Hermes index closed Sunday 0.15 percent down at 64,873.81 points and the widely watched Case 30 index slipped 0.01 percent to 7,375.82 points. The change in the broader CIBC index was not immediately available for technical reasons.