Cairo – Mubasher: The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) finished Thursday's trading session on a mixed note amid a strong selling wave that halted the upward trend of its main index (EGX30).
The benchmark index closed 0.31% lower to the mark of 7, 756.3 points.
Among EGX30 top gainers were CIB, Edita, OTMT, and Telecom Egypt with a rise ranging between 0.7% and 4.6%.
On the other hand, EFG-Hermes, TMG, SODIC, Global Telecom, Juhayna, Amer Group, Ezz Steel, and Al-Qalaa came as top losers with a slide ranging from 1% to 3.2% at close.
The benchmark initiated the trading session on a lower note, shedding 41 points to stand at 7,739 points in early trading, said Sameh Gharib, head of technical analysis at Roots Stock Brokerage House. However, it pared some early losses on the comeback of purchasing powers in the second half and thus ended the session 23 points, or 0.31% lower, at 7,756 points.
In spite of Thursday's slight decline, the main index is still hovering at the area of 7,700 points,Gharib continued, expecting EGX30 to shoot above the former mark next week as well as the level of 7,815 points shortly afterwards, which will pave the way to targeting the resistance mark of 8,000 and the support area of 7,700 points.
Likewise, both the broader index EGX100 and the equal-weighted index EGX70 edged down by 0.02% and 0.27% respectively.
Meanwhile, the small and mid-cap index EGX70 rose by 0.26% to 373.15 points.
Unlike the above indices, the EGX70 closed in the green zone despite losing some points at the open, Gharib said, adding "the index is endeavouring to break the area of 376 points, but selling pressures abort all attempts", which are expected to continue till the beginning of the coming week.
After 104 million shares were traded, market turnover reached EGP 483.4 million. Out of 149 stocks traded today, 50 went up; 67 moved down; and 32 stayed at their previous levels.
Egyptians and Arab investors were net sellers by EGP 69 million and EGP 4.2 million respectively, while foreign investors were net buyers by EGP 73.2 million.
Market capitalisation lost EGP 186.4 million ($21 million) to end at EGP 409.31 billion against EGP 409.50 billion on Wednesday.
