Egyptian stocks drifted downwards on Sunday in thin trade with no news to move prices decisively in either direction, brokers said.
Sentiment among local retail investors was negative while non-Arab foreigners were net buyers by a margin of 85 million pounds ($15 million). "The market was very quiet and it's drifting. There seems to be not much news," said Yasser Hassnein of Dynamic Securities.
Mohamed Radwan of Delta Securities said investors had expected the market to be more positive after rebounds in the United States and Europe on Friday. "But sentiment is still quite negative and that pulled down shares in the textile, housing and steel sectors," he added.
The mood hit Egyptian Resorts, the most heavily traded stock, which fell 5 percent to last trade at 24.12 pounds. Out of the 100 busiest stocks, six declined. But overall volume was low at 548 million pounds, about half of the volume on a busy day. Sixth of October Development and Investment fell 2.8 percent to 146 pounds, and Cairo Housing fell 3.5 percent to 13.94 pounds.
The benchmark Hermes index closed 0.15 percent down at 64,873.81 points and the widely watched CASE 30 index slipped 0.01 percent to 7,375.82 points. The change in the broader CIBC index was not immediately available for technical reasons.