Following global markets, Egyptian stocks rose on Thursday on non-Arab buying, traders said. For the seventh day in a row, big caps pushed Egypt's benchmark index 1.45 per cent up, they added. The North African country's main index EGX 30 gained 90 points, ending the week's trading at 6,316.52 points, its highest level since June 24. The EGX 70, which measures 70 of the country's small and mid caps, added 1.42 per cent to 606.22 points. Orascom Telecom, the largest Arab mobile operator by subscribers, rose by 0.19 per cent to LE5.16 ($0.9) per share. Orascom Construction Industries gained 1.46 per cent to LE239 per share. EFG-Hermes, Egypt's largest investment bank by market value, added 0.75 per cent, closing at LE28.06 per share. Volume hit LE2.5 billion, accordig to the Egyptian Exchange. Non-Arab investors made net purchases worth LE61 million. Meanwhile, robust quarterly earnings from Europe drove world stocks higher, while the dollar hit a three-month low on the back of weak US data and a downbeat assessment of the economy from the Federal Reserve, Reuters reported. Investors took heart from results for companies including Royal Dutch Shell, Rolls Royce and BAE Systems, while there were gains for French service group Capgemini and France Telecom, Europe's third-largest telecom operator by market cap. Global equities measured by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) All-Country World Index added 0.3 per cent. "Second-quarter results are better than expected and it supports the market, but the rise is capped by the rather poor macro data," said Emmanuel Morano, head of equity management at fund management firm UFG-LFP in Paris. "The big question is: Is this a pause in the economic recovery or are we heading for a brutal landing? The bond market seems to be pricing in the pessimistic scenario, while equities send a more optimistic signal. Who's wrong? Tomorrow's U.S. GDP figure should shed light on this." The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 advanced 0.5 per cent, also helped by improving euro zone economic sentiment, which rose to a 28-month high. Tokyo's Nikkei average .N225, however, fell 0.6 percent after hitting a two-week closing high the previous session. UBS raised European shares to "neutral" from "underweight," citing "compelling valuations" as one of the reasons.
