The Cairo Stock Exchange declines 3% after strong gains since the beginning of the year economy

The Egyptian Stock Exchange ended trading session Thursday with a collective decline in indicators, coinciding with a wave of decline in Gulf stock exchanges, in light of the escalation of geopolitical tensions in the region, especially the increasing indications that the United States is heading to launch a major military strike on Iran.

The performance of the Egyptian stock market came under the pressure of Arab traders’ sales, in contrast to the tendency of Egyptians and foreigners towards buying, in a session characterized by a decline in trading values ​​with a reduction in working hours during the month of Ramadan.

The main index, “EGX30”, fell by 2.98% to close at 50,667 points, while the “EGX30 Weighted Index” fell by 3.27% to 61,203 points. The EGX30 Total Return Index also decreased by the same percentage, recording 23,033 points.

The losses extended to the segment of medium and small companies, as the “EGX 70 Equal Weights” index fell by 2.96% to 12,726 points, while the “EGX 100 Equal Weights” index fell by 2.92% to close at 17,804 points, reflecting the widening scope of selling pressures across the various share classes.

Trade value

The value of trades amounted to about 5.6 billion pounds ($117 million), while the market capitalization of restricted shares recorded a level of 3.3 trillion pounds (nearly 70 billion dollars) at closing. 1.4 billion securities were traded through the implementation of 146.1 thousand transactions on the shares of 220 companies.

Egyptian investors accounted for 83.39% of total transactions, compared to 10.71% for foreigners and 5.9% for Arabs. At the category level, individual transactions represented 70.23% of the market, compared to 29.76% for institutions. The decline came in light of net sales from Arab investors, while Egyptians and foreigners tended to buy, reflecting a difference in short-term investment visions.

Despite the major decline in the Egyptian Stock Exchange today, its general index is still up by 21% since the beginning of this year. The rise of the stock market is attributed to the rise in investor morale in the stock market as a result of the Central Bank of Egypt’s decision last week to reduce the interest rate following the decline in inflation rates. The Egyptian authorities’ plan to privatize more than 20 state-owned companies also contributed to this rise.

Gulf decline

The significant decline in the Cairo Stock Exchange coincided with a wave of decline in Gulf stock markets, in light of the escalation of geopolitical tensions related to the talks between the United States and Iran regarding the Iranian nuclear file, which strengthened investors’ tendency towards reducing risks.

The Saudi index fell by 1.9%, while the Dubai index fell by 2.3%, Abu Dhabi by 1.4%, the Qatar Stock Exchange index fell by 1.6%, the Kuwait Stock Exchange by 1.1%, and the Oman Stock Exchange by 0.9%, and the Bahraini Stock Exchange was the least with a decline of 0.2%.