CAIRO: Reuters reported that Egyptian shares extended their gains on Sunday, for the sixth straight session, driven by a regional bullish sentiment and foreign buying on blue-chips, brokers said. Most of the Gulf markets ended the day in the green on Sunday as the main index of Saudi shares rose for the third session in a row, gaining 2.6 percent. The benchmark Case 30 index rose 1.9 percent to a new life high of 10,927.11 points, about 73 points short of breaking the 11,000 points historical level. The broader CIBC-100 index climbed 2.1 percent to a record high of 428.18 points, while the well watched Hermes index added 2 percent to a closing high of 96,308.30 points. Bucking the trend were shares in EFG-Hermes, which lost 0.44 percent to LE 66, down from a session high of LE 67.67. In other news, Reuters reported that the average yield on Egyptian 182-day treasury bills inched higher to 7.208 percent at auction on Sunday from 7.128 percent at last week s auction. The central bank said it accepted bids for bills worth LE 2 billion, the amount it was seeking. It accepted bids at rates between 7.05 and 7.3 percent, compared to a range of 7.001 to 7.231 percent last week, it added. The bills are for issue on January 8, and they mature on July 8, 2008
