Egypt’s stocks tumbled to the lowest level in almost two months after the verdict in the trial of former President Hosni Mubarak sparked protests and on concern global economic growth is slowing.
Orascom Construction Industries (OCIC) declined to the lowest intraday level since April 22. Ezz Steel, the country’s biggest publicly traded manufacturer of the metal, lost 1.5 percent. The benchmark EGX30 Index (EGX30) dropped 1.9 percent to 4,599.13, the lowest intraday level since April 11, at 11:09 a.m. in Cairo.
A Cairo court handed life sentences to Mubarak and his interior minister Habib El-Adli for complicity in the deaths of demonstrators during last year’s apprising. It also acquitted six assistants of El-Adli of the charges related to the killings and Mubarak’s two sons of corruption charges. All decisions are subject to appeal. Thousands of demonstrators filled Cairo’s Tahrir Square within hours of the verdict to voice their discontent.
“Today’s market is definitely politically driven and the global scene is not helping make things better,” said Omar Darwish, equity sales trader at Cairo-based Commercial International Brokerage Co. “People are back in Tahrir demanding the fall of the regime as if nothing had happened over the past year and a half and this may result in the delay of the presidential election.”
EFG-Hermes Retreats
European stocks declined for the fourth week in five and U.S. shares tumbled, erasing the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU)’s 2012 gain. Oil dropped 3.8 percent in New York on June 1 after the Labor Department said American employers added the fewest workers in a year in May. The jobless rate in the euro region, which has been in the grips of a debt crisis for three years, reached a record high, of 11 percent in April and March.
Orascom Construction, the country’s biggest publicly traded builder, lost 1.3 percent to 254.5 pounds. Ezz Steel (ESRS) slipped to 6.55 Egyptian pounds, poised for the lowest close since April 11.
EFG-Hermes Holding SAE (HRHO) lost 0.6 percent after the biggest publicly traded Arab investment bank rejected a takeover bid from Planet IB Ltd. in favor of a joint-venture with Qatar’s QInvest LLC.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ahmed A Namatalla in Cairo at anamatalla@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Maedler at cmaedler@bloomberg.net
Israel Stocks: Elad Europe, Hot, Israel Chemicals, Partner - Bloomberg
Israel’s TA-25 index headed for the lowest close since November 2011, sliding 2.6 percent to 1,037.85 at 1:40 p.m. in Tel Aviv.
The following stocks rose or fell today. Symbols are in parentheses.
Elad Europe Ltd. (ELER) surged 31.7 percent, the most since June 2011, to 1.231 shekels. T.G.I. Real Estate Investments Ltd. offered to acquire the shares it doesn’t already own in the real-estate development and management company.
Hot Telecommunication System Ltd. (HOT) headed for the the highest close since May 14, gaining 1 percent to 35.12 shekels. The board of Israel’s second-largest fixed-line operator approved a plan to buy back as much as 184 million shekels ($47.1 million) of stock last week.
Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL) , the company that extracts minerals from the Dead Sea to make potash and other fertilizers products, retreated 4.2 percent, the most since Feb. 26, to 38.76 shekels. Corn futures fell to an 18-month low on June 1 as economic data from Europe, Asia and the U.S. indicated demand for commodities will ebb. Farmers use potash on their crops to help strengthen plant root systems and make them more resistant to drought.
Israel Opportunity Energy Resources LP (ISOPL) dropped 7.6 percent, the most since Jan. 15, to 0.244 shekel. The oil and gas exploration company said most of the 6.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas that may be found in the Pelagic prospect remained undiscovered.
Mellanox Technologies Ltd. (MLNX) dropped 3.4 percent, the most since May 20, to 224.30 shekels, or the equivalent of $57.37. The New York-traded shares of the Israeli developer of technology used to transfer and store data quickly dropped 4.6 percent to close at $57.70 on June 1.
Partner Communications Co. (PTNR) advanced as much as 3.6 percent to 18.20 shekels before trading at 17.70 shekels. Suny Electronics Ltd. (SUNY) , a marketer of mobile phones, said it is in advanced talks with Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. for the sale of a controlling stake in Scailex Corp. (SCIX)(SCIX IT). Scailex holds a 44.5 percent stake in Partner, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Trading in Suny and Scailex were suspended.
To contact the reporter on this story: Shoshanna Solomon in Tel Aviv at ssolomon22@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Maedler at cmaedler@bloomberg.net
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