Stocks fall for fourth straight day

The Egyptian main stock index dropped today for the fourth day a raw, thought largely as a result of sells by Arab, Egyptian and foreigner shareholders during the last three sessions.

There were, however, some purchases today’s session.

Large sell-offs are a response to the instability in the United States, where a failure to raise the debt ceiling by August 2 might trigger global economic catastrophes. There are ongoing debates in the American Congress about raising the debt ceiling, which allows the American government to meet its financial obligations and interest payments on loans.

The Egyptian index EGX 30 dropped 0.52 percent and closed at 5022 point. The capital market lost five billion EGP (U.S. $839.3 million) during four sessions, going from 387.7 billion EGP (U.S. $65.1 billion) last week to 382.7 billion EGP (U.S. $64.2 billion) today.

The Small and middle companies’ index EGX60 gained 0.65 percent and EGX100 index went down 0.11 percent. Trading reached 344.8 million EGP (U.S. $57.9) today.