Egyptian stock loses 5.5bn Egyptian pound, main index down by 2.19%

The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) lost some 5.5 billion pounds at the start of Monday\'s trading on the back of sales operations by investors who are fearful of unfortunate political developments after the attack on the Republican Guard House that left 42 people dead and 322 injured. Market capital reached 347.8 billion pounds. The EGX 30 benchmark index dropped by 2.19 percent to 5199.43 points. The broader EGX 70 index of the leading smaller and mid cap enterprises (SME) also went down by 0.9 percent, reaching 420.80 points. The all-embracing EGX 100 index followed suit with 0.97 percent decline to 722.61 points. The EGX stopped trading of shares of 15 companies for 30 minutes after exceeding a 5% drop ceiling.