EGX Indices Dip Amidst Egyptian Investor Sell-Off: Market Recap

CAIRO - 6 March 2024: The Egyptian Stock Exchange wrapped up its trading session on Wednesday with a collective downturn in indices, fueled by Egyptian investors offloading their holdings, while Arab and foreign traders showed a preference for buying. With trading volumes reaching 9.7 billion Egyptian pounds, the market capitalization saw a decline of 48 billion pounds, settling at 2.031 trillion pounds by the session's close.

The EGX 30 index saw a retreat of 3.02%, closing at 29,743 points, while the EGX 30 capped index experienced a drop of 3.49% to reach 37,137 points. Similarly, the EGX 30 total return index recorded a decline of 3.05%, closing at 12,670 points.

Additionally, the small and medium-sized enterprises index, EGX 70 equally weighted, fell by 3.4%, closing at 7,202 points, while the EGX 100 equally weighted index slipped by 3.39% to close at 10,177 points.
 

EGX 30 Soars Post Central Bank's Interest Rate Hike: Forbes Analysis

Forbes magazine has highlighted the recent decision by the Central Bank to increase key interest rates by 6% as part of Egypt's strategy to accelerate inflation reduction and eliminate parallel foreign exchange markets that impede economic growth.

Forbes pointed out that as a consequence of this decision, Egyptian international bonds have been on the rise for over two years. Notably, the 2047 bonds saw a significant increase, climbing by 2.6 cents to reach 82.3 cents.

The EGX 30 index, a prominent benchmark on the Egyptian Stock Exchange monitoring the performance of the 30 most liquid stocks, also surged by 4.8% following the report.

Earlier in the week, Fitch Ratings revised Egypt's external liquidity outlook upward following the country's receipt of the first tranche of financing worth $5 billion from a groundbreaking $35 billion agreement with the UAE for the Ras Al Hikma project.

Egypt inked a deal with the UAE to develop the Ras Al Hikma area on the Mediterranean coast, with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly stating that the project could attract $150 billion in investments. The project encompasses investment, commercial, residential, tourist, and entertainment sectors, with commencement anticipated early next year, as reported by Reuters.

Reuters also noted an increase in Egyptian dollar-denominated sovereign bonds on Friday prior to the announcement of the deal, with continued upward movement throughout the afternoon.