Cairo - Mubasher: The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) ended the first week of the New Year on a mixed performance.
The week that ended 4 January had only four trading sessions, due to the New Year's Day, and it is worth noting that next Sunday will be another official holiday as it corresponds to the Eastern Christmas.
The benchmark index EGX30 saw its biggest decline in a month, losing 1.56%, or 234.59 points, as it closed at the level of 14,782.38 points.
Commercial International Bank (CIB), the stock with the biggest weight in the main index fell 2.36%, to EGP 75.64.
Traded volumes on the stocks of the main index reached 511.7 million shares, with a total turnover of EGP 1.8 billion.
The market capital closed at EGP 828.5 billion, gaining EGP 2.7 billion compared to the previous week.
Meanwhile, EGX70 rose 0.96% to 832.36 points, while the broader index EGX100 added 0.51% and ended the week at 1,970.28 points.
The equal weighted index EGX50 increased by 0.28% during the week, closing at 2,568 points, as it saw trading values of EGP 2.2 billion.
Egyptian investors were inclined towards selling with a net EGP 124.2 million, while foreign and Arab investors were net buyers at EGP 80.8 million and EGP 43.4 million, respectively.
Analyst Said El Fekky of Osoul for Security Brokerage told Mubasher that he believes the negative performance in the first week comes as a result of the continuing profit making, since the benchmark index exceeded the level of 15,000 points before the beginning of the New Year.
El Fekky expects profit making to continue until EGX30 approached the support level at 14,600, where investors sought new positions, noting that the recent movement is normal after the market surged from 14,290 to more than 15,000 points.
As for the small and medium shares EGX70 index, it is still moving diagonally in a limited range, the analyst added.
EGX gained around 21.7% in 2017, as it reached a new all-time high at 15,019 points.
Financial analysts expect EGX market gains to continue in 2018, supported by the government’s initial public offerings (IPO), through which it seeks to attract millions of new investors.
