Cairo-Mubasher: The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) slid on Sunday, losing around EGP 1.9 billion ($254 million) of its capitalization, as it was pressured by foreign institutions and Arab retail traders’ sell-offs.

The benchmark index EGX30 erased its morning gains to end slightly lower by 0.54% at 9283.59 points.

The market was weighed by the news about setting a new schedule for the country’s parliamentary election after the constitutional court ruled that an article in a law defining voting districts was unconstitutional, said Mohamed Gaballah, head of trading, Tawfik Securities Brokerage.

The benchmark index broke below the 9300 mark to reach 9250 level then rebounded to close at 9283 points due to some buying transactions by bargain hunters after stock prices reached selling saturation area, according to the analyst.

He expected the local equity market to resume its way up on Monday targeting 9600 resistance level. He noted, however, that a failure to break above such a level will take the index in a sideways movement between 9300 and 9600 points.

The small and mid-cap index EGX70 inched lower 0.05% to 557.71 points, while the broader index EGX100 ended 0.21% lower at 1112.06 points.

Sunday’s traded volume amounted to nearly 86.7 million shares, while turnover reached EGP 352.6 million.

National and foreign traders were net sellers by EGP 83.9 million and EGP 5.2 million respectively, while Arab traders ended as net buyers by EGP 89.1 million.

Institutions, especially foreigners, were net sellers, while retail traders were mostly buyers.

As for stock performance, Delta Sugar was the biggest drag (-5.45%), while Al Arafa Investment was the best performer (+5.88%).

Translated by Sayed Abdel Rahman