Egypt's stock market hits lowest point in over a year

Egypt's stock market took a dive on Monday, with the benchmark index EGX 30 dropping by 4.23 percent at closing reaching 7870 points, its lowest in over a year.

The broader EGX 70 ended with a 3.08 retreat. The Egyptian stock exchange suspended the trading of 50 stocks for half an hour after they dropped by more than 5 percent.

Ayman Hamed, the managing director of the brokerage sector of Naeem Brokerage said the retreat is driven by fears that the Greece crisis will trigger a new global financial crisis and that more countries will tumble, like Spain and Portugal.

The Greece crisis will be problematic for its lenders and Hamed believes that it will reduce the availability of the cash inflows that Egypt is trying to attract.