CAIRO - For the second day in a row, Egyptian stocks were in the black on Wednesday due to foreign buying, traders said. Arab and non-Arab investors made net purchases worth LE11.2 million ($1.9 million) and LE19 million respectively. Egyptian investors made net sell-offs worth LE30.2 million, according to the Egyptian Exchange. The country's benchmark index EGX 30 added 0.45 per cent, ending the day's trading at 6,057.27 points. The EGX 70, which measures 70 of the country's small and mid caps, gained 1.24 per cent to 576.6 points. Volume exceeded LE1 billion, according to the Egyptian Exchange. In a related event, Weather Investments, the holding company of Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris, is considering a move into Poland and Serbia after the success of its mobile operations in Italy. Weather, the parent company of Cairo-based mobile phone company Orascom Telecom, owns Italy's number-three mobile operator Wind Telecomunicazioni and Greece's third- biggest operator Wind Hellas. Sawiris, who is Orascom Telecom's executive chairman, said Orascom's mobile subscribers would exceed 100 million worldwide by end-2010, with those in Canada exceeding 100,000 and in North Korea 200,000. Media reports have cited Orascom as a possible bidder for stakes in Poland's Polkomtel and Telekom Srbija. Orascom Telecom, the largest Arab mobile operator by subscribers, rose by 1.22 per cent to LE4.96 per share. Orascom Construction Industries, the country's largest builder by market value, slipped by 0.8 per cent to LE230.68 per share. EFG-Hermes, the country's largest investment bank by market value, was flat at LE27.94 per share. World stocks hit a three-week high while government bonds fell broadly after Intel's forecast-beating quarterly results raised expectations of strong corporate earnings in the second quarter, according to Reuters. Resilient demand for PCs and servers helped Intel Corp's margin and revenue forecasts blast past Wall Street expectations, allaying fears of a technology spending slowdown and sending its shares up nearly eight per cent. Tuesday's upbeat news came after the closing bell on Wall Street, which rallied for a sixth straight day after Alcoa posted upbeat results late on Monday. "Corporate figures are better than expected, and that's adding to strength and for now the corporate market has got its tail up," said Justin Urquhart-Stewart, investment director at Seven Investment Management. Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) world equity index rose 0.5 per cent to hit its highest level since late June. The FTSEurofirst 300 index gained 0.4 per cent. Emerging stocks rose 0.8 per cent while emerging market spreads tightened further to 296 basis points, the tightest level since mid-May. US crude oil was steady at $77.11 a barrel. The euro held near $1.27, within half a cent of the previous day's two-month high as improving risk appetite boosted high-yielding currencies and investors welcomed a successful treasury bill tender by Greece on Tuesday. "What we are seeing is that cash is being put back to work with all the negative news surrounding the eurozone receding," said Greg Gibbs, currency strategist at RBS in Sydney.
