Egypt stock indexes tumble over 4 pct, Eastern down

CAIRO, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Egypt's main stock indexes slid over 4 percent on Thursday as the market reeled on global market woes, with Eastern Tobacco (EAST.CA) tumbling over 8 percent, traders said.

The benchmark CASE 30 index .CASE30 shed 4.77 percent to 7,066.21 points, while the Hermes index .HRMS lost 4.95 percent to 630.30 points. The broader CIBC index .CIBC plunged 7.46 percent to 363.11 points.

Traders said foreign investors were selling heavily after the collapse of Lehman Brothers and a sale of Merrill Lynch MER.N to Bank of America, followed by the U.S. bailout of insurer AIG (AIG.N).

"We are having a domino effect in the world equity markets," said Mohamed Kotb of Jazira Asset management. "We are seeing a minimisation of the equity portfolios."

Shares in Eastern Tobacco, the most heavily traded share by turnover, dipped 8.42 percent to 261 Egyptian pounds ($47.64). The firm had said on Sept. 1 that it had raised prices for some types of cigarettes.

Market heavyweight Orascom Construction Industries (OCIC.CA)(OCICq.L) lost 4.4 percent to 303.21 pounds, while Orascom Telecom (ORTE.CA)(ORTEq.L) shed 6.35 percent to 39.98 pounds.

Egypt's benchmark index had dipped to its lowest level since March 2007 on Tuesday as foreign hedge funds sold big caps, spurring retail panic, brokers said. The market recovered some losses on Wednesday before again turning downward.

Mohamed Seddik, a senior analyst at Prime Securities, said investors were also waiting for a decision of the Egyptian central bank's monetary policy committee. The market has been expecting the bank to raise rates to combat surging inflation.

A decision is due on Friday, and traders said that some investors were being drawn away from the equity market by the expectation of higher interest rates.

Stock exchange data showed that foreigners were net sellers by 31.9 million pounds, with local investors also net sellers. Arab non-Egyptian investors were net buyers, however, by 48.2 million pounds.

The negative sentiment also hit Egypt's banking sector. Investment bank EFG-Hermes (HRHO.CA)(HRHOq.L) dipped 8.03 percent to 36.30 pounds, while Commercial International Bank (COMI.CA)(COMIq.L) ended 3.04 percent lower at 39.53 pounds.

Real estate developer Talaat Moustafa (TMGH.CA) plummetted 17.92 percent to 5.13 pounds. Court sources said on Thursday that the former chairman Hesham Talaat Moustafa would go on trial on Oct. 18 over accusations he paid a man to kill a Lebanese singer in Dubai in July. ($1 = 5.4788 Egyptian pounds) (Reporting by Cynthia Johnston and Alastair Sharp)