Market Report: Egypt's Bourse up 1.3 per cent, making fourth day of rises

Foreign and Arab traders increase buying as construction, financial and telecoms make modest gains

Egypt's stock market closed 1.32 per cent up at 5,480.94 points fuelled by a renewed foreign buying spree on Wednesday and marking the fourth consecutive daily rise of the Bourse's main index.
An early half-hour dip on the EGX30 was countered by a sharp climb that soared above the starting index before a slight falter and a two-hour levelling off. The broader EGX100 edged 1.12 percent. The EGX30 rose 3 per cent on Tuesday and 0.75 on Monday.
"The market is moving upwards very gradually," Islam Amin, a trader with the Shorouk brokerage told Reuters. "It seems that investment funds are beginning to buy up stock for which they know the exact value of shares and which are attractively priced." He expects the market to move in the same direction on Thursday.
General upward movement for some shares on Wednesday offset a wider picture of losses.
Of 178 listed stocks, 78 showed gains, 89 declined and 11 remained unchanged. Total turnover was LE872,395,396 on the sixth day or market resumption following Egypt's revolution.
As before, building materials and construction, financials and telecoms were the most active sectors and showed modest gains, while real estate and basic resources continued to fall, reflecting corruption investigations into major players such as Ezz Steel and Palm Hills Development.
The Alexandria branch of Ezz dropped 8.7 per cent while controversial property firm Talaat Moustafa Holding saw a 1.7 per cent dip ahead of Thursday's AGM.
Biggest loser was the Amer Group, which shed 9 per cent, although the wider financial and banking sectors saw modest gains. EFG-Hermes surprised some with a 2.79 per cent rise.
The telecoms sector dipped at first, reversing the trend of the last few days. By end of trade only Mobinil showed gains, up 2.64 per cent. Telecom Egypt lost 1.16 per cent and Orascom Telecom shares stayed level.
"This seems a broader market movement, it's not related to any specific negative news in the sector," says Mohammed Hamdi, telecoms analyst at CI Capital Holdings.
He says the only recent development that might have adversely affected stock was the decision at Mobinil AGM last week to delay payment of dividends.
Foreigners were responsible for 55 per cent of trade and made net buys worth LE42.48 million. Egyptians accounted for 36.6 per cent and were net-sellers of LE65.59m. Non-Egyptian Arabs made a stronger show than normal, with an 8 per cent share of transactions and a 10 per cent buying presence.
The stock market, which re-opened last week after a shutdown of more than seven weeks, is set to resume its normal four-hour trading session on Sunday, a bourse official accounced earlier today. Other emergency measures put in place by the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority remain, including 'circuit breakers' and isolated temporary stock freezes to cap market fluctuations.