Pressure weighs on Egyptian stock market

Markets Wrap: Egypt's stock market fell yesterday, weighed down by industry-related stock, tracking emerging equity markets amid investor worries over an economic slowdown.

The EGX 30 Index fell 0.2% to 5,879.79 points. Shawn Baldwin / Bloomberg News

Egypt's stock market fell yesterday, weighed down by industry-related stock, tracking emerging equity markets amid investor worries over an economic slowdown.

The EGX 30 Index slipped 0.2 per cent to 5,879.79 points. It fell as much as 1.1 per cent during the trading session.

Abroad, a diplomatic crisis between Japan and China over islands claimed by both countries, raised concern over a trade relationship worth US$340 billion annually.

In Europe and the United States, investors worried whether measures introduced by the European Central Bank and the US Federal Reserve was enough to revive growth.

"It's a combination of global fears coming into play and affecting sentiment," said Marwan Shurrab, the chief trader at the asset manager Gulfmena Investments in Dubai.

The EGX 30 Index is up 62 per cent so far this year. Egyptian stock rallied earlier this week when the Fed announced plans for a third round of quantitative easing.

"The market was taking a breather on the back of the recent rally," said Wafik Dawood, a director of institutional sales at Mega Investments Securities in Cairo.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index slipped 0.5 per cent to 2,611.62, while the Dubai Financial Market General Index added 0.1 per cent to 1,591.50.

Abu Dhabi is up 8.7 per cent so far this year, while Dubai is up 17.05 per cent in the same period.

"Abu Dhabi's index is above the most recent high we touched in mid-August. The market has been performing really well, there is no reason to get scared," said Mr Shurrab.

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