During Monday closing session, the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) has pared its early losses to eventually reach EGP 318 million as the capital market has amounted to EGP 348.840 billion.

Gunmen killed at least 15 Egyptian policemen late Sunday  in an assault on a police station at the border between Egypt and Israel on Sunday, before seizing two military vehicles and attempting to storm the border.

Israel said its aircraft had fired on one of the commandeered vehicles and that the other had exploded at the border crossing. Israeli forces were combing the area and some of the militants had been killed, the Israeli army said.

Egyptian medical and security sources said that at least 15 Egyptian policemen had been killed and seven wounded in the assault on the police station. Israel said no Israelis were hurt.

"The terrorists who killed the Egyptian security men seized two Egyptian military vehicles and tried to storm the Israeli border," Ofir Gendelman, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Twitter.

"One of the two Egyptian army vehicles exploded and the second was targeted by the Israeli air force in the Kerem Shalom crossing. No injuries on the Israeli side," he said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Egyptian state television reported that an Islamist militant group was behind the attack.

The main index, EGX30 went down by 0.25% to close at 5022.02 p.  EGX20 surged 0.10% to end at 5770.63 p.

Meanwhile, the mid- and small-cap index, the EGX70 fell 0.72% to finish at 449.85 p.  Price index EGX100 dropped 0.54% to conclude at 773.34 p.

Traded volume reached 174.268 million securities worth EGP 379.766 million, exchanged through 21.861 transactions.

This was after trading in 164 listed securities; 96 declined 47 advanced while 21 keeping their previous levels.

Egyptians and Arabs were net sellers seizing 80.43% and 7.21% respectively, of the total markets, with a net equity of EGP 9.152 million thousand and EGP 9.622 million excluding the deals.

On the other hand, non-Arab Foreigners were net buyers seizing  12.36% of the total markets, with a net equity of EGP 18.774 million excluding the deals.

Leading Shares:

EGX’s leading shares witnessed unsteady performance.

Orascom Telecom Media & Technology:

The shares of Orascom Telecom Media & Technology Holding (OTMT.CA) led EGX downwards as they dived by 1.75% to close at EGP 0.56.

Commercial International Bank:

The shares of Commercial International Bank- Egypt (CIB) (COMI.CA) sank by 1.20% to finish at EGP 27.97.

Orascom Construction Industries:

Orascom Construction Industries (OCIC.CA) fell by 0.69% to conclude at EGP 273.21.

EFG-Hermes Holding:

The shares of EFG-Hermes Holding (HRHO.CA) inched lower 0.65% to end at EGP 10.76.

EFG-Hermes shareholders meeting is excepted to be reconvened within this week upon the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA)’s request so as to conclude its deal with QInvest.

Mona Zulficar, EFG-Hermes Board of Directors chairperson, had announced last Tuesday that upon EFSA’s request, EFG-Hermes will be reconvening its shareholders’ annual meeting within a week or a maximum of 10 days.

“During this meeting, we will provide some additional more detailed disclosures on the QInvest deal and the fate of the minority’s rights after signing the deal … we don’t have something to hide behind the scenes.”Zulficar added

Talaat Moustafa Group:

The shares of Talaat Moustafa Group (TMGH.CA) climbed 1.43% to finish at EGP 4.27.

Orascom Telecom Holding:

The shares of Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH) (ORTE.CA) rose by 0.88% to conclude at EGP 3.44.

Citadel Capital:

Shares of Citadel Capital (CCAP.CA) edged up 0.32% to end at EGP 3.10.

Sinai Attacks Repercussions:

Gaza Strip's Hamas condemned the killing of the Egyptian police officers.

Egyptian security sources said the attackers had used a stolen police vehicle to launch the attack and had fired live ammunition at police officers at the station.

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi called for an urgent meeting late Sunday with Egypt's military council to discuss the situation, the Muslim Brotherhood's party said on Facebook.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the attack showed the need for Egypt to take action to impose security in the Sinai peninsula.

Barak added on Monday that he hoped a deadly cross-border assault in the Sinai would serve as a "wake-up call" to Egypt, long accused by Israel of losing its grip in the desert peninsula.

A television journalist based in North Sinai said the area was sealed off by security forces, who had blocked the road from the main town of al-Arish in the direction of the Gaza border crossing at Rafah.

Earlier on Sunday, an Israeli air strike killed a Palestinian gunman from a radical Islamist group and wounded another as they rode a motorbike in southern Gaza near the Egyptian border. It was not immediately possible to confirm whether the two incidents were linked.

Israel has previously accused Palestinian militants in Gaza of involvement in militant activity in Sinai, where insecurity has spread since the U.S.-aligned Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, was toppled by a citizen revolt last year.

Officials said early Monday Egypt has deployed at least two helicopter gunships to the Sinai Peninsula in the hunt for militants behind the killing of 16 Egyptian soldiers at a checkpoint along the border with Israel.

Security and military officials said Monday that more aircraft were expected to arrive in the town of El-Arish ahead of a military campaign against the militants in the area. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Iran was behind Sunday’s deadly cross-border incident in the south, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, said late Sunday night.

Using social networking platform Twitter, Oren called the perpetrators of the attack, which left 16 Egyptian soldiers dead, “Iranian backed terrorists” who also wished to “massacre Israeli civilians.”

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