Stock indexes rose on Thursday, led by heavy foreign buying in Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) after the stock s global depository receipts (GDRs) rose a day earlier, traders said. A rebound in global equity markets had restored confidence in both retail and foreign investors, causing shares to rise, they added. The volatility that was seen last week in the market was quite absorbed today and you saw more institutional investors coming into the market buying stock, especially in OCI, said Mohamed Radwan of Delta Securities. There was lots of foreign buying in both the local and GDR market in OCI, said Mohamed Kotb of Jazira Asset Management. Foreign investors were net buyers by LE 276 million ($48.6 million). Shares in OCI, the day s most heavily traded stock by turnover, rose 3.6% to close at LE 333.90, a high for 2007 and just LE 3 shy of its record high. Real estate development also made a strong showing, with the sector continuing to ride in the wake of investments by a bevy of regional names like Emaar Properties in Egypt. Sixth of October Development and Investment rose 2% to close at LE 151 per share, Egyptian Resorts rose 5% to LE 24.66, and Medinet Nasr Housing rose 7.1 percent to LE 166.90. Overall, the benchmark Hermes index closed 1.6% higher at 65,589.25 points. The widely watched CASE 30 index gained 1.7% to end at 7,445.55 points, and the broader CIBC index rose 1.3% to 314.50 points.
