EGX30 gains 2.66% in August as broader market rally gathers pace

The EGX30 eked out a modest 2.66% gain in August, closing the month at 54.9k points, with every sector finishing in the green, according to the bourse’s latest monthly report (pdf). Foreign investors swung back to net selling after July’s brief turn to net buying. The EGX70 and the EGX33 Shariah Index outperformed the benchmark gauge, climbing 14.6% and 8.9%, respectively.

Trading value eased to EGP 2.49 tn this month from EGP 2.55 tn, even as volumes rose to 79.45 bn securities from 69.27 bn and transactions jumped to 6.6 mn from 4.7 mn. Market cap climbed 8.9% to EGP 4.29 tn by month-end.

The investor mix flipped in August

Local institutions picked up a net EGP 3.06 bn in listed stocks (excluding block trades), with local retail adding another EGP 2.71 bn. Foreign institutions were the sellers, offloading a net EGP 3.9 bn, marking a full reversal of the EGP 1.4 bn they bought in July, while foreign retail posted net purchases of EGP 56.4 mn. Regional money exited across both sides of the ledger, with institutions down EGP 847.9 mn and individuals down EGP 1.08 bn.

Line it up by investor type, and it’s July running in reverse. Overall, institutions were net sellers of EGP 1.69 bn, and overall retail was the net buyer of precisely that. Retail also carried the volume, with buy-plus-sell activity at EGP 476.72 bn of the EGP 592.51 bn traded on both sides, or roughly 80% of the market.

Foreign money rotated out of bank names and into real estate stocks. Foreigners offloaded a net EGP 1.98 bn in the banking sector — the single largest net sale of the month — in a sector where foreigners accounted for 38.4% of gross turnover. Real estate was the exception, drawing a net EGP 585.9 mn of foreign buying.

A broad-based rally

Market gains stretched across every sector: Textiles and durables (+23.4%) and building materials (+22.7%) led, followed by healthcare and pharma (+19.4%), contracting and construction engineering (+18.6%), and industrial goods, services, and automobiles (+13.7%).

The laggards: Education services (+0.8%), real estate (+3.8%), and IT, media, and communication services and non-bank financial services (+5.1% each) saw the smallest gains, with no sector closing in the red.

The brokerages league table

In August: Thndr led the monthly brokerage ranking (pdf) in August with a 21.2% market share, followed by EFG Hermes’ combined brokerage arms at 9.7% and Mubasher at 5.9%. YTD: Thndr also topped the YTD brokerages league table (pdf) with a 15.9% market share, followed by EFG Hermes’ combined brokerage arms at 13.1% and Mubasher at 6.2%.