Foreign purchases push EGX for 4th session, benchmark up 0.4%

CAIRO – 7 March 2017: The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) rallied further on Tuesday, pushed by strong purchases from Arab and foreign institutions.


The benchmark index EGX30 added 0.43 percent to end at 12,677 points, up from 12,623 points on Monday.


Egypt's market reversed February's downward wave after Finance Minister Amr El-Garhy announced last week that a levy on stock trades is to be gradually increased.


The stamp tax on stock trades will start at 0.125 percent for both sellers and buyers, instead of 0.175 percent suggested earlier. The tax authority hope the tax would generate 1-1.5 billion EGP ($63.2-94.7 million) in the next fiscal year (2017/2018).


The small and mid-cap index EGX70 went up 0.58 percent to close at 496 points, up from 494 yesterday. Also, the broader index EGX100 rose 0.7 percent to close at 1195 points after 1187 points in the previous session.


Market capitalization gained nearly 4.1 billion EGP ($235.6 million,) totaling 620.4 billion EGP, and turnover amounted to 1.6 billion EGP.