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| Financial traders work at their desks inside the Egyptian stock exchange in Cairo. The benchmark index lost 2.8% to end at its lowest close since May 10 |
More than 1,000 Egyptians extended a protest in central Cairo to a fifth day yesterday after dismissing the prime minister’s pledge to reshuffle the cabinet as falling short of demands for swifter reforms.
“It will continue to weigh on the market, which is totally dependant on what’s going on in the street,” said Hashem Ghoneim of Pyramids Capital. “If the protests escalate in Tahrir (Square) the market will be pressured to go down even more.”
Cairo’s benchmark index lost 2.8% to end at its lowest close since May 10.
Commercial International Bank, the most active stock, fell 4% and the exchange suspended 22 shares from trade during the day after their declines surpassed 5%.
Only six companies on the index gained, including two dollar-denominated stocks, Maridive and Oil Services, which added 2.6%, and Egypt Kuwait Holding, which rose 1.7%.
Investors dumped the euro and stocks for a third day yesterday as concern mounted that the eurozone debt crisis was spreading to Italy and Spain.
Global concerns overshadowed strong bank results in Saudi Arabia, dragging the kingdom’s index 1.2% lower to its lowest close since June 25.
“The euro debt issue is hanging on everyone’s mind, and the regional sentiments is already weak because market participation is thin, on seasonality impact,” said a Saudi-based fund manager who declined to be named.
Petrochemical and banking stocks, the two heavyweights on the index, fell and investors reduced positions across the board.
Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic), the world’s biggest petrochemical firm by market value, fell 1.2%. The biggest listed Saudi lender, Al-Rajhi Bank, shed 1% despite posting a 3.6% rise in quarterly earnings.
Saudi Hollandi Bank bucked the trend, gaining 1% after reporting a 5.1% rise in quarterly profit, beating forecasts.
Dubai shares declined for a second day, with the global sentiment doing little to help sentiment.
Dubai’s index declined 1%, hitting a fresh July low. Most stocks fell, with Emaar Properties down 2%.
Analysts polled by Reuters estimate the developer to post a 55.3% drop in quarterly net profit.
“Emaar would be interesting in my opinion—the headline number will probably not look pretty most probably due to some write-offs, but I would look at the operating side,” said Ibrahim Masood, senior investment officer at Mashreq bank.
Elsewhere, Abu Dhabi’s index shed 0.4% to 2,713 points; Oman’s index eased 0.3% to 5,968 points; Kuwait’s measure eased 0.3% to 6,165 points; Bahrain’s measure eased 0.05% to 1,318 points.