Egypt's main index ended 0.7 percent lower as uncertainly continued over Orascom Telecom's (OT) potential deal with South Africa's MTN. OT's shares closed down 5.6 percent after Algeria announced it would block a key part of a potential $9 billion purchase by MTN of some or all of OT's assets. "Orascom Telecom's direction is setting more or less the direction of the market," said Mohamed Radwan of Pharos Securities. "As the news is coming from Algeria concerning the difficulty of finalizing the deal between MTN and Orascom, this is placing pressure on the market," said Radwan. Telecoms stocks took a dive, with Mobinil shedding 3.3 percent and Telecom Egypt down 0.2 percent. Ezz Steel also shed 0.5 percent. Egyptian Resorts fell 0.3 percent after having surged in early trade. It announced before the open of trade that Orascom Development Holding had bought a 4.5 percent stake in the firm and would help it develop land and a marina along Egypt's Red Sea coast. "Egyptian Resorts is the most active stock in terms of volume," said Radwan. "The long awaited news regarding the firm was announced today, justifying the rally that the company has seen during the past two weeks." Egyptian Resorts' shares have risen 54 percent since March 31. Overall, the main index closed at 7,452 points.
