Non-Arabs pushed Egypt's main index up on Wednesday, traders said. But the market was mixed as the country's EGX 70, which measures 70 of the country's small and mid caps, slipped by 0.67 per cent to 572.03 points. The North African country's main index EGX 30 gained 0.9 per cent, ending the day's trading at 5,967.53 points. Non-Arab investors made net purchases worth LE82.6 million ($14.5 million). Egyptian and Arab investors made net sell-offs worth LE65 million and LE17.6 million respectively. Volume hit LE738 million, accordig to the Egyptian Exchange. Orascom Construction Industries gained 1.14 per cent to LE227.39 per share. Orascom Telecom, the largest Arab mobile operator by subscribers, was flat at LE4.79 per share. EFG-Hermes, Egypt's largest investment bank by market value, added 0.7 per cent, closing at LE27.23 per share. In a related event, Egypt's Suez Cement group said it posted net profit of LE766 million in the first half of 2010, unchanged from the same period last year, according to Reuters. Suez, the country's largest listed cement maker by market value and a unit of the Italcementi group, reported a 4.8 percent increase in net sales to LE3.4 billion. The figures include all companies in the Suez group, which includes Helwan Cementand Torah Portland Cement, among others. The firm supplies approximately 26 per cent of Egypt's market for grey cement and 42 per cent for white cement. Meanwhile, world stocks rose after strong earnings and forecasts from Apple raised expectations of solid second-quarter results from other heavyweight companies. "So far so good, but the emphasis will be on Q3 guidance increasingly," said Bernard McAlinden, an investment strategist at NCB Stockbrokers in Dublin. "The market is still consolidating last year's gains. We are waiting just for the market to realize that there won't be a double dip." The MSCI all-country world equity index rose half a per cent. The FTSEurofirst 300 index advanced 1.7 per cent while emerging stocks rose one per cent. The euro slipped against the dollar after a weak auction of Portuguese debt highlighted the fragility of the euro zone banking sector ahead of European bank stress test results due on Friday. Portugal sold 1.25 billion euros in 12-month Treasury bills, but the average yield more than doubled from the previous sale, while the bid-to-cover ratio was much lower. A German auction also disappointed, traders said, as Berlin sold 3.19 billion euros of a new benchmark 30-year bond, drawing total bids below the 4 billion euros the debt management office issued. "It doesn't take much to sow seeds of doubt in the euro," said Michael Hewson, currency strategist at CMC Markets. The single currency was down more than 0.6 per cent on the day at $1.2804.
