CAIRO: Egypt s main stock indexes advanced on Sunday, extending gains from the last days of 2008 as heavyweights Orascom Construction and Orascom Telecom were again buoyed by positive retail sentiment, traders said. Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) made strong gains for the third straight trading day, ending 3.66 percent higher at LE 145.50 ($26.41). Orascom Telecom (OT) also continued to rise significantly, up 4.43 percent to LE 31.81. Local investors dominated trade, with 95 percent of all transactions. They were net buyers to the tune of LE 9 million, according to stock exchange data. All of the institutional and retail investors are building new positions, said Wafik Dawood from Naeem Brokerage. The margins for all the brokerages were opened again today. Dawood said volumes were unexceptional, but positive sentiment was in the ascendant. So far there is a positive sentiment among the retail investors. Institutions are still skeptical, he said. The benchmark CASE 30 index gained 2.48 percent to 4,710.38 points, while the rival Hermes index added 2.13 percent and the broader CIBC index rose 2.77 percent to 293.4 points. OCI bought two million of its own shares between Dec. 28 and 31, while OT purchased 23.6 million of its shares in the same period, the stock exchange said in a statement. The OT purchase accounts for around 2.3 percent of all its shares. The OCI purchase is less than 1 percent of its equity. Other firms to gain in decent volumes included Commercial International Bank, up 1.88 percent to LE 37.90, and Talaat Moustafa, which gained 2.29 percent to LE 3.13.
