The Egyptian Exchange has opened Thursday posting significant gains of EGP 2.46 billion backed by foreign buyers amid the announcement of resuming talks between Orascom Construction Industries and the Egyptian Tax Authority next Sunday. The talks are likely to seek to settle the existing disputes which have recently escalated after issuing a travel ban against OCI officials Nassef Sawiris and his father Onsi. The capital market has amounted to EGP 365.412 billion, according to data compiled by Amwal Al Ghad at 11:06 a.m. Cairo time (09:06 GMT) during Thursday's opening session. The EGX indices flourished opening in green notes on Thursday. Benchmark EGX30 climbed by 1.11% to 5321.45 p; while EGX20 inched up by 0.98% to 6262.14 p. Meanwhile, the mid- and small-cap index, the EGX70 surged by 0.83 % to 456.7 p. Price index EGX100 edged up by 0.89% to 771.26 p. This was after trading in 104 listed securities; 6 declined, 63 advanced; while 35 keeping their previous levels. During Thursday's opening session, the trading volume has reached 21.073 million securities worth EGP 38.407 million, exchanged 1.926 thousand transactions. EGX opening gains were backed by Arab and non-Arab foreign net buyers seizing 9.93% and 22.34% respectively, of the total markets, with a net equity of EGP 5.454 million and EGP 700.820 thousand excluding the deals. Meanwhile, Egyptians were net sellers seizing 67.73% of the total markets, with a net equity of EGP 6.154 million excluding the deals. For the leading EGX-listed firms' stocks, Orascom Telecom Media And Technology Holding SAE (OTMT.CA) soared by 4.23% to EGP 0.74. OTMT announced on Wednesday that it received today 5th of March 2013 an extension to the management contract of the Lebanese mobile telecommunications operator “Alfa" with the Republic of Lebanon for a period of four additional months commencing on March 01st 2013 and ending on June 30th 2013. Orascom Telecom Holding SAE (ORTE.CA)'s stock also climbed by 2.44% to EGP 4.19. EFG-Hermes' stock inched up by 2.10% to EGP 11.20. On Wednesday, the leading investment bank's CEO Yasser El Mallawany announced the firm is finalizing the tie-up with Qatari QInvest within the coming two months. El Mallawany has attributed the delay in concluding the takeover deal to the unstable situation of the Egyptian market along with to the lateness for obtaining the governmental as well as the regulatory approvals necessary for the deal completion. “All the required approvals to conclude the tie-up are on the way." El Mallawany noted Furthermore, Orascom Construction Industries – OCI (OCIC.CA)'s stock surged by 1.01% to EGP 250.00. Workers at OCI have staged a sit-in on Wednesday morning outside the company's head office in Corniche El Nil to express their opposition to the government's arbitrary actions against OCI including the travel ban decree and the tax dues of over EGP 14.7 billion. The workers said their sit-in is neither against the state nor the government but it is to represent their rejection to the arbitrary actions taken against the OCI. Later on Wednesday, OCI N.V.'s subsidiary, Orascom Construction Industries, announced that it has received notification from the Egyptian Tax Authority (ETA) to discuss the alleged tax claim against the Company on Sunday 10 March 2013.
