CAIRO: Egypt s main index rose 2.7 percent, tracking global markets, with blue chips Ezz Steel, Orascom Telecom (OT) and Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) leading the index. The market traded for the first day after a four-day Easter break. International markets are doing pretty well ... the president is back in Egypt ... all these factors have a positive impact on sentiment driving the market up, says Karim Hosny of Pharos Securities. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak returned to Egypt at the end of last month following surgery in Germany. Among the day s top gainers was Ezz Steel, Egypt s largest steel maker, which jumped 6.1 percent after raising its steel prices by 25 percent on Thursday, when the stock gained 6.3 percent. Ezz Steel also announced last month it would reopen its Ezz Flat Steel (EFS) plant, which has an annual capacity of 1.3 million tons. Investment bank HC raised its price target on Ezz by 29 percent to LE 30.10 and also ups its target for Ezz unit Al Ezz Dekheila Steel Alexandria, which was up 5.8 percent. In other sectors, OT gained 1.9 percent and OCI rose 2.3 percent. Commercial International Bank rose 3.9 percent and Talaat Moustafa was up 2.3 percent. Market speculation that Arab Polvara Spinning and Weaving will sell a piece of land is driving the textiles sector up, said Hosny. Arab Polvara was up 7.3 percent, while Arab Cotton Ginning was up 2.4 percent. Kabo rose 2.9 percent. The index is now trading above 7,000 points for the first time since mid-February. If we maintain these positive levels, I think we could hit the 7,500 point mark in a month or so, said Hosny. Overall, the index closed at 7,051 points.
