CAIRO: Egyptian stock indexes were barely changed in a quiet market on Wednesday, with cautious investors maintaining their positions before the start of the Eid-al-Fitr holiday season that marks the end of Ramadan. Everyone is waiting until after the holidays to start building up a position and seeing the direction of the market, but there s a sort of healthy consolidation at these levels, said Ahmed Hifnawi of EFG-Hermes brokerage. People tend to either sell or hold before this big event (Eid holidays marking the end of Ramadan). It s a seasonal thing, said Mohamed Kotb of Jazira Asset Management. Egyptian Kuwaiti Holding, which on Wednesday said it would hold a meeting of the board of directors on Thursday to discuss a planned capital increase, rose 4.3 percent to last trade at 2.68 pounds per share. The banking sector continued making some gains after Italy s Sanpaolo bought 80 percent of Bank Alexandria for $1.6 billion in an auction on Tuesday. Shares in Watany Bank rose 0.6 percent to last trade at 27.15 pounds, while shares in Credit Agricole rose 1.31 percent to 18.50 pounds. Commercial International Bank, which on Tuesday said it would set up an Algerian subsidiary, rose 0.2 percent to end at 51.52 pounds. The well-watched Case 30 index ended 0.3 percent lower at 6,379.24 points, the Hermes index closed 0.2 percent lower at 56,850.12 points and the broader CIBC 100 index ended 0.3 percent higher at 259.49 points.
