Following global markets, Egypt's main index gained 170 points on Tuesday, ending a nine-day losing streak, traders said. Big caps pushed the country's benchmark index, EGX 30, 2.92 per cent up, ending the day's trading at 6,020.97 points. The EGX 30 shed nearly 700 points over the past nine days. The EGX 70, which measures 70 of the country's small and mid caps, added 2.64 per cent to 540.31 points. Investors boosted global stocks strongly and sold the dollar, lifting equities off six- and seven-week lows. Non-Arabs made net purchases worth LE21.8 million ($3.8 million). Volume exceeded LE588 million, according to the Egyptian Exchange. Commercial International Bank (CIB) jumped by 4.91 per cent to LE67.55 per share. EFG-Hermes, Egypt's largest investment bank by market value, added 3.28 per cent, closing at LE29.93 per share. Orascom Construction Industries, the country's largest builder by market value, leapt by 3.06 per cent to LE232.23 per share. Orascom Telecom, the largest Arab mobile operator by subscribers, jumped by 2.27 per cent to LE4.95 per share. Telecom Egypt rose by 3.34 per cent to LE15.76 per share. Shares in developer Talaat Moustafa gained 2.92 per cent, to LE7.06. The average yield on Egyptian 273-day Treasury bills dipped to 10.732 per cent at an auction on Monday from 10.82 per cent at the last auction on June 21. The Central Bank of Egypt said it accepted bids for bills worth LE3 billion ($527 million), the same amount it was seeking. It accepted bids at rates between 10.65 and 10.759 percent, up from 10.7 and 10.841 percent at the previous auction. The bills are for issue on July 6 and mature on April 5, 2011. MSCI's all-country world stock index was up 0.8 per cent, with Europe putting in gains of around 1.5 per cent, according to Reuters. The world index is still down more than 10 per cent for the year. Stocks were weaker on Monday in response to data showing a slower-than-expected improvement in US employment. The FTSEurofirst 300 bounced back from six-week closing lows with a gain of 1.5 percent while Japan's Nikkei closed up 0.8 per cent, coming off a seven-week low. Emerging market stocks were up one per cent. "Markets are a bit oversold. The decline has been quite strong," said Joost de Graaf, senior portfolio manager at Kempen Capital Management in The Netherlands. "There are (also) hopes that second-quarter earnings will be OK and will lift some of the negative atmosphere." Investors are currently beset by concern that the global economic recovery is slowing enough to send some countries into a double-dip recession. This is combined with nagging fears that the recovery seen so far is all down to government action, which may soon end. "Awash with private sector debt (in its various forms), the world's major economies may struggle to maintain their forward impetus once policy stimulus, both fiscal and monetary, is set on the path toward normalization," BNY Mellon said in a note. "Early signs of ebbing momentum are of concern." The more risk-friendly mood hit the dollar, which fell a third of a percent against a basket of major currencies. It was particularly weak against the high-yielding Australian dollar, which rose more than 1 percent at one stage on cautiously optimistic remarks from the Australian central bank after it left interest rates unchanged as expected. "The strength in the Aussie was somewhat surprising given the change in the RBA's wording suggests it may keep interest rates lower for some time," said Ulrich Leuchtmann, currency strategist at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. "But risky assets are performing well, so there's been a gradual return of risk appetite." The euro gained a third of a per cent to $1.2580. Eurozone government bonds sold off as a result of the rise in equities.
