The EGX30 rose 2.8% last month, closing August at 35.1k points, according to the EGX’smonthly report (pdf). The benchmark index recorded a high of 36.3k points and a low of 34.1k during the month, while total market cap rose 2.7% to roughly EGP 2.5 tn. Meanwhile, the EGX33 Shariah Index underperformed the benchmark index, posting a modest 0.9% uptick.

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Trading value slips: Total value traded was down 11.5% last month, reaching EGP 1.5 tn across 2.5 mn transactions. Total equity trading accounted for 7.6% of the total value traded on the main market, while the remaining 92.4% was captured by bonds and bills.

Local institutions were the only bullish institutional segment on EGX-listed stocks with net purchases of EGP 4.6 bn (excluding block trades). Meanwhile, retail investors were bearish across the board. Local retail investors recorded net sales of EGP 1.2 bn, regional retail investors logged net sales of EGP 128.8 mn, and foreign retail investors posted EGP 2.7 mn in net sales.

Top-performing sectors in August: Education services led the EGX with a 16.2% gain, followed by construction and engineering, which rose 14%. Tourism and leisure advanced 9.5%, healthcare and pharma added 8.2%, and telecom, media, and IT climbed 7.2%.

On the flipside: Transportation & shipping fell 6.2%, textile & durables dropped 6.0%, while real estate and industrials & autos each slipped 0.9%. All other sectors ended the month in the green.

How the EGX fared against regional, int’l benchmarks: The EGX30 outperformed Saudi Arabia’s TASI,which shed 2% in August, the ADX (-2.7%), and the DFM (-4%). Globally, the S&P 500 advanced 1.9%, while Europe’s Euro Stoxx 50 gained 0.6%.

Brokerage league table: EFG’s brokerage arms retained the top spot YTD with a combined 21.2% market share, well ahead of Thndr (7.2%) and Mubasher (6.8%), according to the EGX brokerage league table (pdf) tracking firms’ performance between January and August. Meanwhile, Arqaam Securities Brokerage unseated longtime leader EFG Hermes to top the EGX brokerage league table (pdf) in August with a 14.3% market share. EFG’s brokerage arms slipped to second with a combined 11.3%, while Thndr ranked third at 8.9% and Mubasher followed with 7.1%.

ICYMI- Banque du Caire and military-owned Safi and Wataneya could be among the first to debut on theEGX as part of the next phase of the privatization program. Their debut could happen as early as this month and before the IMF concludes its combined fifth and sixth reviews under our USD 8 bn program.

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