Indices of the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) ended Wednesday’s session on a mixed note, amid strong buying by national and Arab traders.
The benchmark index EGX30 fell 0.67% or 65.91 points to close below the 9750 level at 9745.49 points.
EGX70, which measures small and mid-cap stocks, rose 0.44% to 640.12 points. The broader index EGX100 rose 0.19% to 1170.17 points.
Market capitalization rose nearly EGP 1.758 billion to EGP 527.972 billion, compared with EGP 526.214 billion on Tuesday.
The benchmark index continued its sideways movement between 9500 and 9800 and failed to shot above the historic resistance level due to weak liquidity, said Safwat Abdel Naeem, capital market expert.
Although leading stocks controlled huge portion of the market’s liquidity, they failed to help the benchmark shoot above 9800 level, said the analyst, adding that the index were pressured by local and foreign institutional sell-offs.
The analyst expected the index to continue moving sideways between 9800 and 9500 on Thursday. He also forecasted turnover to remain at weak level of around EGP 500 million.
Wednesday’s turnover amounted to nearly EGP 459.5 million, after 67.4 million shares were exchanged in 27.7 thousand transactions.
National and Arab traders ended as net buyers by EGP 3 million and EGP 2.9 million respectively, while foreign traders were net sellers by EGP 5.9 million.
Retail traders accounted for 55.4% of total trading, with nationals and foreigners heading for buying. Institutions made up the remaining 44.6% with nationals and foreigners heading for selling.