EGX extends losing spree, benchmark down 0.7%

CAIRO – 28 February 2017: The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) continued its tumble on Tuesday on intensive selling pressures from Arab and foreign institutions.

The market witnessed a bearish investor sentiment since the Ministry of Finance announced a stamp duty will come into effect before May. The new stamp duty is expected to generate 1 billion EGP to 1.5 billion EGP ($63.2 -$94.7 million) in the next fiscal year (2017/2018).

The benchmark index EGX30 slid 0.72 percent to end at 11,937 points, down from 12,023 points on Monday.

The small and mid-cap index EGX70 dropped 0.65 percent to close at 473 points, compared to 476 points in its last session.

Similarly, the broader index EGX100 plummeted 1.33 percent to close at 1141 points after 1146 points on Monday.

Market capitalization shed around 8.9 billion EGP ($37.4 billion,) totaling 592.3 billion EGP, and turnover amounted to 933 million EGP.