CAIRO: Wild speculation about the likely winner of an auction of Egypt s third mobile license stimulated trade on the stock exchange on Monday, but most of the companies competing in the auction ended the day down. The market as a whole closed slightly higher as an extension of what one broker called a technical and psychological rebound from the depressed prices of the past few months. Commercial International Bank, which is taking part in Tuesday s mobile auction in conjunction with Emirates Telecommunications/Etisalat, the Egyptian Post Office and National Bank of Egypt, was the only bidder to benefit, ending 2.6 percent up at LE 61.55 ($10.69). Hashem Ghoneim of El Nour Securities said the bank fared best because of reports that it came first in the technical evaluation process completed last month. There was a lot of irrational trading on all the companies that have something to do with the mobile license, he added. Investment bank EFG-Hermes, the most heavily traded stock, saw a massive 5 percent of its shares change hand in a single session, but it last traded 0.1 percent lower at 26.60 pounds. EFG-Hermes is a partner in the auction with MTC of Kuwait. Telecom Egypt, which remains 80 percent state-owned, fell 6.9 percent to 11.82 pounds, apparently on speculation that it is unlikely to win the license despite its government connections, brokers said. Raya Holdings, which is bidding in alliance with MTN of South Africa, lost 3.9 percent to last trade at LE 10.55. If the winner is based outside Egypt, it should stimulate the economy by bringing in a fee, forecast at between LE 6 and LE 10 billion, Ghoneim said. The benchmark Hermes index rose 45.78 points, or 0.1 percent, to 43,705.09 points. The broader CIBC index ended 0.6 percent up at 193.12 points and the widely watched Case 30 rose 1.0 percent to 4,894.89 points. Reuters
