Economy News – Follow-up
Egypt Stock Exchange
The Egyptian Stock Exchange concluded its trading on Thursday with mixed results, marked by a decline in market capitalization, which fell below 2.270 trillion pounds.
The Egyptian Stock Exchange’s thirty index saw a decrease of approximately 22 points, closing at 30,610 points. This marks the fourth consecutive session of losses, although the index secured its largest monthly gain in five months, rising by 2%. In contrast, the index faced its steepest weekly loss in seven weeks, contracting by about 1% during the past week.
The seventy index experienced a slight decline, wrapping up at 8,635 points. For the second successive week, the index continued its upward trajectory, while the monthly performance reflected a 1% increase, marking its second monthly gain in 2025.
Liquidity within the Egyptian market reached 26.6 billion pounds, with the market capitalization at 2.269 trillion pounds.
Transactions revealed a net purchase by Egyptian investors of 2.4 billion pounds, while Arab and foreign investors reported net selling of 856.3 million pounds, with foreign sellers accounting for 1.5 billion pounds.
In an interview, Egyptian Finance Minister Ahmed Kajuk stated that the exceptional social protection package’s rollout coincided with the onset of Ramadan. He noted that inflation is on a downward trajectory with anticipated declines in March. Some institutions project inflation could fall below 15%, a development that may influence interest rates.
Minister Kajuk further elaborated that the social support package aligns with government efforts to provide financial assistance, targeting a broad spectrum of eligible recipients while mitigating inflationary pressures.
Additionally, he announced an allocation of 35 billion pounds for the procurement of local wheat from farmers this year, with a target of purchasing 3.5 million tons of local wheat.
Saudi Market
In the Saudi market, the index closed down on Thursday for the fourth consecutive session, slipping below the 12,200-point mark, its lowest level since January 13, 2025. The index recorded its worst daily performance in two months, declining by 1% during the trading session.
Over the week, the Saudi index experienced its largest weekly decline in 15 weeks, dropping by 2.4%, while the monthly performance reflected a contraction of approximately 2.5%, marking the most significant decline in three months.
Amid MSCI’s quarterly review, liquidity surged to the highest level in a month, exceeding 8.3 billion riyals.
The banking sector in Saudi Arabia saw a decline of 1%, while energy and basic materials sectors fell by 0.4% and 1.5%, respectively. Conversely, the insurance sector experienced a marginal increase of 0.23%, and real estate funds rose by 0.17%.
Other Gulf Markets
In other regional markets, the Qatar Stock Exchange closed Thursday’s session with a 0.5% decline, experiencing its largest monthly loss in nine months and its first weekly loss after two consecutive weeks of gains.
The Dubai Market achieved its longest series of monthly gains since 2014, rising by 2.65% during February. In contrast, the Abu Dhabi Index registered a slight decline of 0.22%, ending the Friday session at 9,564.62 points.
