CAIRO: Egyptian stock indexes eked out small gains on Thursday as heavyweight firms moved in opposite directions in high volumes. Among gainers, Orascom Telecom (OT) added 2.52 percent and Orascom Construction gained 1.63 percent. The two firms account for some 32 percent of the weighting of the benchmark EGX 30, which ended 0.47 percent higher at 3,575.93 points. The rival Hermes index gained 0.50 percent to 342.63 points, while the broader EGX 70 rose 0.13 percent to 443.66 points. There was a lot of volume today, especially in OT, said Hashem Ghoneim from Pyramids Capital. You can see accumulation going on. It s an attractive place for the stock to turn around and go up again. OT, which ended at LE 17.90 ($3.17), has fallen almost 80 percent from a peak in April last year. Representing another 27 percent of the index, Telecom Egypt, Commercial International Bank and EFG-Hermes all declined between 1.81 and 3.25 percent. Investment bank EFG-Hermes fell furthest of the three, to LE 12.50 as investors digested a 27.7 percent drop in annual profit to LE 933.5 million announced on Wednesday. It was below expectations, but everyone was expecting that they were going to report lower, said Mohamed Ashmawy of CIBC. Both Ghoneim and Ashmawy said Ezz Steel was trading in heavy volumes because the firm had announced a LE 1.3 dividend at its annual general meeting. A representative from the firm could not be reached for comment. That is an excellent dividend on a LE 7 stock, an excellent return, Ghoneim said. The stock exchange suspended Ezz shares in late trade pending enquiries into the outcome of the firm s annual meeting.
