Cairo – Mubasher: The Egyptian Exchange's key indices gave a mixed performance during the eighth month this year.
The benchmark index EGX30 added 174.9 points, or 2.19%, to close at 8,158.04 points backed by a number of key heavy stocks, including its largest constituent CIB that rose 2.58% to EGP 48.59 and Telecom Egypt (+8.52%) that was placed at EGP 10.06 after winning a fourth-generation license.
Thanks to this solid activity of blue-chip stocks, EGX30 registered the highest mark since July 2015 at 8,481 points, said market analyst Sameh Ghareeb, noting that CIB ticked an all-time high quote at EGP 52.90 a share; EFG-Hermes reached the highest since June 2015 at EGP 13.73; and Telecom Egypt hit 18-month high yesterday at EGP 10.60 per share.
But selling pressures at the resistance of 8,481 points dragged the index lower towards the 8,000-7,900 support area, Ghareeb clarified.
On a monthly level, the main gauge is likely to target higher levels at 8,750 and then 9,000 points, the analyst added, stressing that any possible downturn will not affect the overall targeted performance as long as the index holds above 7,900 points.
Unlike EGX30, the small and mid-cap EGX70 lost 4.09 points, or 1.13%, to reach 357.5 points compared with 361.6 points a month earlier.
During August, the EGX70 was placed at 369.44 points as the highest monthly mark, while the mark of 357.2 was the lowest one.
"The outlook for EGX70 will not be negative unless the index moves below the support area of 355 points. On the mid-term, the index is still moving sideways", the analyst said.
The broader index EGX100 rose by 24.66 points, or 3.15%, to 807.49 points. Likewise, the equal-weighted index was 0.40% higher this month to end at 1380.28 points.
Nationals and Arab investors were net buyers by EGP 403.3 million and 179.2 million respectively.
By category, institutions were net buyers by EGP 240.5 million.
By the end of July, the main index moved up 14.99%, or 1040.6 points registering the highest rise since March 2016, to level up at 7983.15 points.
