Egypt stocks see minor loss Tuesday

Egypt's stocks saw an overall decline Tuesday but showed improved performance towards the end of the session. The main EGX30 index dropped 0.37 per cent to land at 5,567 points. It shed a significant 2.42 per cent on Monday as investors were driven off by President Mohamed Morsi's comments about looming crackdown on "corruption" in his two-hour showcase speech, Saturday. Out of 172 shares traded today, 101, mainly smaller shares, finished in the green. This was reflected in the performance of the broader EGX70 index which gained 0.6 per cent to close at 517 points on Tuesday. Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) led the losing shares today, dropping 1.87 per cent after registering LE83.5 million in turnover. OCI closed at LE273.21 per share. OCI was the most active in today's session making up 12 per cent of the session's total LE671 million ($112m) turnover. Real estate developer Talaat Mostafa Group (TMG), which dropped 9.8 per cent on Monday, saw better performance on Tuesday shedding only 0.65 per cent to close at LE4.57 per cent. Another real estate firm, Palm Hills Development (PHD), also saw more favorable trading today, shedding just 0.38 per cent. Investment house EFG-Hermes was the main gainer today, seeing LE69 million in turnover and gaining a solid 4.47 per cent. Eastern Tobacco Company also saw significant gains, as it announced a dividend of LE7 per share for those retaining the share up to 21 October. It gained 2.08 per cent to close at LE87.75 after it saw a LE60 million in trading volume. From ahramonline