EGX rallies for 5th session driven by foreign purchases

CAIRO – 8 March 2017: The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) extended its winning streak on Wednesday, powered by foreign purchases.


The benchmark index EGX30 added 0.46 percent to end at 12,723 points, up from 12, 677 points on Tuesday..


Since last Thursday's session, Egypt's market rebounded on news that a stamp tax on stock trades, which led the market to a sharp slip during most of February’s sessions, is to be gradually increased.


The small and mid-cap index EGX70 jumped 3.26 percent, breaking the 500-point barrier before closing at 513 points. Also, the broader index EGX100 soared 2.44 percent to end at 1,224 points after 1,195 points in the previous session.


Market capitalization added around 7.3 billion EGP ($411 million,) totaling 627.9 billion EGP, and turnover amounted to 1 billion EGP.


Finance Minister, Amr El- Garhy announced last week that the levy on stock trades would start at 0.125 percent for both sellers and buyers, instead of 0.175 percent as suggested earlier. The tax authority hopes the tax would will generate 1-1.5 billion EGP to 1.5 billion EGP ($63.2 -$94.7 million) in the next fiscal year (2017/2018.).