Market rises for seventh day, trade deficit declines

Egypt’s stock market went up for the seventh straight session on Monday, bolstered by Arab and foreign investors’ buying into stocks, reported state media.

Egyptian investors were net sellers, the state-run Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported, but the main EGX 30 index still managed to end Monday’s trading session up 0.53 percent to reach 5,542 points. The broader EGX 70 and EGX 100 were both up 0.44 percent.

Stocks have been performing positively since fears eased over an impending US military strike on Syria, after the US and Russia reached an agreement on monitoring the war-torn country’s chemical weapons.

Egypt also reported that as of May, the trade deficit had declined by 29.7 percent, reaching LE16.21 billion as compared to LE23.05 billion in the same month last year, according to the state statistics agency.

CAPMAS reported that exports rose by 3.1 percent to reach LE16.83 billion in May, compared to LE16.33 billion the previous year, on the back of price increases for crude oil, fertilizers, fresh fruits, pasta and medicines.

The decline in imports came to 16.1 percent to LE33.4 billion, compared to LE39.38 billion the year before, due to a decrease in the price of petroleum products, steel and iron as well as plastics, copper and chemical products.