CAIRO: Egyptian markets rallied on Sunday, buoyed by recent gains on international indexes with local investors dominating the market, traders and brokers said. The main reason is the rebound in international markets, said Wafik Dawood from Naeem Brokerage, adding that any rebounds are still considered as bounces to the decline, not the reversal of the trend . Dawood said investors were eyeing progress on the US stimulus plan currently winding through Congress. The benchmark CASE 30 index closed 2.8 percent higher at 3,484.10 points. It has fallen more than 70 percent from a peak in April last year. Local activity accounted for more than 87 percent of all trade, and locals were net buyers to the value of LE 8.5 million ($1.53 million), in subdued volumes. Investor confidence is not really high, so you will find more volume when the market is going down rather than going up, said Mohamed Tawfiq from Delta Rasmala Securities. Tawfiq said Ezz Steel turned lower after news circulated of cheaper prices on foreign steel sold by a country. Ezz ended 4.13 percent lower at LE 6.04. Orascom Telecom (OT) outperformed the index, ending up 4.32 percent to LE 18.10, after saying it sought to buy back more than 7 percent of its own shares in the next three months. Tawfiq said investors were wary of OT s announcement, given that they have made similar announcements in the past without buying the shares, lessening the expected impact. OT s parent company Weather Investments was on Friday again linked to a possible purchase of a stake in Telekom Austria. The biggest negative force on the market - both in terms of volume and turnover - was Upper Egypt Contracting, which plummeted 22.79 percent to LE 1.05.
