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Market Report: Egypt's major stocks slip 0.1 per cent amid unrest and Friday fears

Main index takes its fifth consecutive loss with Bourse seeing thin, mainly speculative trade as investors eye upcoming protests.
16.11.11 | Source: Ahram Online

Egyptian stocks continued to feel the impact of unrest in the provinces as the main index slipped further into the red Tuesday, marking its fifth consecutive day of losses, despite the partial return of speculative buyers which cushioned the broader market.

The benchmark EGX30 finished the session down 0.09 per cent at 4,771 points, a mild loss compared to Monday and Tuesday when it tumbled over 2 per cent each session. A sliver of help came from gains in opening trade, when the index rode above the 4,220 mark.

"The growth at the beginning of the session was driven by small trading volumes on some of the market leaders, it doesn't represent the general direction of the market, " says Mostafa Badra, a capital market expert.

Badra says the recent wave of violence has combined with political uncertainties to squeeze an already troubled exchange.

On Sunday, large-scale clashes between protesters and police in Egypt's northern Damietta governorate left two people dead and three injured; meanwhile at the othee end of the country in Aswan, police forcefully dispersed crowds demonstrating against the killing of a boatman allegedly shot by a police officer last week.

"The market continues to react negatively to this wave of unrest," said Badra. Protests planned for central Cairo this coming Friday against amendments to Egypt's constitution were also making investors nervous, he added.

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