Market Report: Egypt stocks resume rally after Wednesday pause
The Egyptian stock market resumed its post-presidential elections rally on Thursday, with the benchmark EGX30 index inching up 0.7 per cent to close the day out at 4,950 points.
Profit hunting had caused the market to slow down on Wednesday, breaking a seven-session upward trend during which the main index gained close to 1,000 points.
Total daily turnover on Thursday remained slightly below the LE400-million mark, while 117 shares gained and 37 fell in value.
Hashem Ghoneim of the Cairo-based Pyramids Capital was quoted by Reuters as saying that foreign investors – who had been net sellers for weeks – had begun buying again within the last two or three days. The turnaround, said Ghoneim, was largely fuelled by optimism that the recent election of the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Mursi to the presidency would bring a period of stability and growth back to Egypt.
"Hopefully we'll start seeing positive news coming out of the government," Ghoneim was quoted as saying. "The market is cheap. It's only the politics that people are waiting for improvements in."
The broader EGX70 index, meanwhile, also ended the week in green, up 1 per cent.
The upturn was bolstered by net-buying among Egyptian investors to the tune of LE11.2 million. Foreign investors, for their part, were net sellers, offloading some LE15 million in stocks for the day.
Market giant Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) was the most active share in Thursday's trading, accounting for roughly one fifth of the day's total turnover at some LE64 million. OCI climbed 0.65 per cent to close the day out at LE255.69 per share.
Heavyweight Commercial International Bank, meanwhile, was negatively impacted by foreign selling, losing 0.1 per cent for the day.
Market bellwethers Orascom Telecom and Ezz Steel, for their part, saw gains, with both rising by 2.4 per cent on Thursday.
Property shares, too, maintained strong performances, with Talaat Mostafa Group and Palm hills increasing by 2.1 per cent and 3 per cent respectively.
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