Egypt's stocks rallied and the market saw a daily stock turnover exceeding LE1 billion at week's end as the bourse returned to price limits from before the 2011 uprising and lifted precautionary measures, says an analyst. The benchmark index EGX30 increased 1.16 percent to 9,152 points and daily stock turnover registered LE1 billion. "Stocks rallied due to continuing confidence in Egypt's economy following the latest measures taken by the government in the path to economic development," Eissa Fathy, vice head of the securities division at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce, told Ahram Online. Egypt's recently elected President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ratified a new budget in June after cutting down fuel subsidies, a move hailed by economists as necessary for the economy. Earlier this week, El-Sisi annouced the begining of a project to dig a new parallel Suez Canal to raise the vital waterway's revenues by 259 percent. The market's liquidity was mainly influenced by returning to pre-2011 price limits in Thursday's session as announced in late July, added Fathy. In July, the bourse issued a statement announcing the removal of precautionary measures instated following the 2011 uprising. Price change limits of listed shares during trading will now rise from 5 to 10 percent. Accordingly, trading on those shares will be halted for half an hour and once resumed the limit will be extended to 20 percent, explained Fathy at the time. Non-Arab foreign investors continued as net buyers for the second consecutive week for a net value of LE79.4 million. Market bellwether Commercial International Bank (CIB) climbed 2.4 percent to LE43.75 per share. Egypt's leading investment bank, Egyptian Financial Group-Hermes (EFG-Hermes), gained 1.47 percent to LE16.72 per share and Pioneers Holding increased 1.68 percent to LE15.75 per share. In telecommunications, Global Telecom Holding was up 1.62 percent to LE4.98 per share despite reporting losses for the second quarter this year. The company made losses of $173.1 million in the second quarter this year, compared to $22.7 million in the same period a year earlier. Orascom Telecom Media and Technology Holding (OTMTH) increased 0.76 percent to LE1.3 per share. Palm Hills Development (PHD) company lead the real estate sector in the main index and rose 2.13 percent to LE4.25 per share. Talaat Moustafa Group (TMG) company inched up 1.55 percent to LE9.65 per share. The broader index EGX70 gained 0.56 percent. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/107960.aspx
