Financial Glossary — EGX & Investing Terms
Clear definitions of the terms you meet when following the Egyptian Exchange — from order types and index mechanics to fund NAVs — in English and Arabic.
- Bank Certificate of Deposit (CD)شهادة الادخار البنكية
A bank certificate of deposit is a savings product in which you deposit money with a bank for a fixed term in exchange for a stated interest rate, usually higher than an ordinary savings account.
- Bear Marketالسوق الهابط
A bear market is a prolonged period of falling share prices, conventionally defined as a decline of 20% or more from a recent peak.
- Brokerشركة السمسرة
A broker is a licensed firm that executes buy and sell orders in the market on behalf of investors in exchange for a commission.
- Bull Marketالسوق الصاعد
A bull market is a sustained period of rising share prices, typically defined as a gain of 20% or more from a recent low.
- Capital Gains Tax (Egypt)ضريبة الأرباح الرأسمالية (مصر)
Capital gains tax is a tax on the profit realized when an asset is sold for more than its purchase price.
- Circuit Breakerقاطع التداول
A circuit breaker is an exchange mechanism that temporarily halts or restricts trading when a stock or index moves beyond preset thresholds.
- Coupon (Dividend/Interest Payment)الكوبون
In the Egyptian market, “coupon” (كوبون) commonly refers to a scheduled cash payment to holders — a bond’s periodic interest or a stock’s cash dividend distribution.
- Diversificationالتنويع
Diversification is the practice of spreading investments across different securities, sectors, or asset classes so that no single position dominates the portfolio’s outcome.
- Dividendالتوزيعات النقدية (الكوبون)
A dividend is a distribution of part of a company’s profits to its shareholders, usually paid in cash per share.
- Dividend Yieldعائد التوزيعات
Dividend yield is the annual cash dividend per share expressed as a percentage of the current share price.
- Earnings per Share (EPS)ربحية السهم
Earnings per share is a company’s net profit attributable to shareholders divided by the weighted average number of outstanding shares.
- EGX 30 Indexمؤشر EGX 30
The EGX 30 is the benchmark index of the Egyptian Exchange, tracking the 30 most liquid and actively traded listed companies.
- EGX Trading Hoursساعات تداول البورصة المصرية
The Egyptian Exchange holds its continuous trading session on business days from Sunday to Thursday, and is closed on Friday, Saturday and official holidays — a schedule that differs from Western markets that trade Monday to Friday.
- Ex-Dividend Dateتاريخ الاستحقاق
The ex-dividend date is the first trading day on which a stock trades without the right to the most recently declared dividend.
- Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF)صندوق المؤشرات المتداول
An exchange-traded fund is an investment fund whose units are listed and traded on the exchange throughout the session, like a stock.
- Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA)الهيئة العامة للرقابة المالية
The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) is the government body that regulates and supervises Egypt’s non-banking financial markets, including the Egyptian Exchange, brokerages, mutual funds and insurance.
- Foreign Ownership & Free Floatملكية الأجانب والأسهم الحرة
Some EGX-listed companies operate under limits on how much of their shares foreign or strategic investors may hold, while the freely tradable portion is the “free float.
- Free Floatالأسهم الحرة
Free float is the portion of a company’s shares available for trading by the public, excluding stakes held by founders, governments, strategic investors, and other long-term holders.
- Initial Public Offering (IPO)الطرح العام الأولي
An initial public offering is the first sale of a company’s shares to the public, after which the shares are listed and traded on an exchange.
- Limit Orderأمر محدد
A limit order is an instruction to buy or sell a security at a specified price or better — no higher than the limit for a buy, and no lower for a sell.
- Liquidityالسيولة
Liquidity is the ease with which an asset can be bought or sold quickly without materially moving its price.
- Market Capitalizationالقيمة السوقية
Market capitalization is the total market value of a company’s outstanding shares, calculated as the share price multiplied by the number of issued shares.
- Market Orderأمر سوق
A market order is an instruction to buy or sell a security immediately at the best price currently available in the order book.
- MCDR (Central Clearing & Depository)شركة مصر للمقاصة والإيداع والقيد المركزي
Misr for Central Clearing, Depository and Registry (MCDR) is the entity that holds EGX-listed securities in electronic (dematerialized) form, clears and settles trades, and maintains the central registry of ownership.
- Money Market Fundصندوق النقد (صندوق السيولة)
A money market fund is a mutual fund that invests in short-term, low-risk instruments such as treasury bills, bank deposits, and short-dated debt.
- Mutual Fundصندوق استثمار
A mutual fund is a pooled investment vehicle that collects money from many investors and invests it in a portfolio of securities run by a professional fund manager.
- Net Asset Value (NAV)صافي قيمة الأصول
Net asset value (NAV) is the value of a fund’s total assets minus its liabilities, usually expressed per unit or per share.
- Order Bookدفتر الأوامر
The order book is the electronic record of all outstanding buy and sell orders for a security, arranged by price level and time of entry.
- Portfolioالمحفظة الاستثمارية
A portfolio is the complete collection of financial assets held by an investor, such as stocks, bonds, fund units, and cash.
- Price Limits & Circuit Breakersحدود السعر ومكابح التداول
To curb excessive volatility, the Egyptian Exchange applies daily price limits — a maximum percentage a share (or the index) can move in a session — and can halt trading temporarily when a threshold is breached.
- Price-to-Book (P/B) Ratioمكرر القيمة الدفترية
The price-to-book ratio compares a company’s share price with its book value per share, which is shareholders’ equity divided by the number of shares.
- Price-to-Earnings (P/E) Ratioمكرر الربحية
The price-to-earnings ratio divides a company’s share price by its earnings per share, showing how many pounds investors pay for each pound of annual profit.
- Rights Issueأسهم حقوق الاكتتاب
A rights issue is a capital increase in which a company offers existing shareholders the right to subscribe to new shares, usually at a set price and in proportion to their holdings.
- Settlement Cycle (T+2)دورة التسوية (T+2)
Settlement is when the buyer’s cash and the seller’s shares actually change hands after a trade is executed.
- Shariah-Compliant Investingمتوافق مع الشريعة
A Shariah-compliant investment conforms to Islamic law: it avoids interest-based income, excessive uncertainty, and prohibited business activities, and it passes financial-ratio screens on debt levels and interest income.
- Stamp Duty on Tradesضريبة الدمغة على التداول
Stamp duty is a small tax levied on the value of stock-exchange transactions in Egypt, charged to both buyer and seller at rates set by law and typically collected automatically by the broker.
- Stockسهم
A stock, or share, is a security that represents a unit of ownership in a company.
- Stock Marketسوق الأسهم (البورصة)
The stock market is an organized marketplace where shares of listed companies are bought and sold at prices set by supply and demand.
- Stock Splitتجزئة الأسهم
A stock split divides each existing share into several shares of lower par value, increasing the share count while leaving the company’s total market value unchanged.
- Treasury Bills (T-Bills)أذون الخزانة
Treasury bills are short-term debt instruments issued by the Egyptian government (typically 91 to 364 days) to borrow money, sold at a discount and redeemed at face value.
- Treasury Bondsالسندات الحكومية
Treasury bonds are longer-term debt securities issued by the Egyptian government (several years to maturity) that pay periodic interest (a coupon) and return the principal at maturity.
- Unified Investor Code (UIC)الكود الموحد للمستثمر
The Unified Investor Code is a single identification number every investor must obtain from Misr for Central Clearing, Depository and Registry (MCDR) before trading on the Egyptian Exchange.
- Volatilityالتذبذب
Volatility measures how much and how quickly a security’s price moves over time, commonly calculated as the standard deviation of returns.
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