CAIRO: Egypt’s main index, EGX30, slipped 1.7 percent, led down by heavyweight Orascom Telecom (OT) after Telenor’s chief executive officer aired concerns about a deal to buy most of Orascom.

Orascom led the market by turnover, with more than LE 170 million worth of shares exchanged, roughly quadruple the second most-traded stock on the index, Talaat Moustafa Group. OT fell 5.4 percent.

Talaat Moustafa ended flat at LE 7.61 per share.

Traders said OT shares fell after Telenor Chief Executive Jon Fredrik Baksaas told Reuters that Telenor’s partly-held mobile group Vimpelcom must clarify its deal to take over most of Orascom.

They also cited a recent report that Algeria will not begin talks on nationalizing Orascom’s local unit Djezzy until next year, casting further doubt on the deal.

"As long as uncertainties exist concerning the OT-Algerian unit dispute or OT-Vimpelcom deal, we are going to have endless volatility," said Youssef Kamal, head of foreign trading at Naeem Brokerage.

"Any positive news on OT will turn the case upside," he added.

The EGX30 ended at 6,691 points.