CAIRO - Driven by a bullish mood, Egyptian stocks rebounded amid low vloumes on Thursday, traders said. The North African country's benchmark index EGX 30 gained 0.59 per cent, ending the week at 6,951.31 points. The EGX 70, which measures 70 of the country's small and mid caps, rose by 1.02 per cent to 729.35 points. Volume hit LE677 million ($116.7 million), according to the Egyptian Exchange. Commercial International Bank (CIB) shed 0.48 per cent to LE45.65 per share. Orascom Construction Industries jumped by 1.4 per cent to LE271.83 per share. Orascom Telecom, the largest Arab mobile operator by subscribers, rose by 0.7 per cent to LE4.34 per share. Real-estate developer Talaat Moustafa added 1.22 per cent to LE8.32 per share. Meanwhile, world stocks hit their highest level since September 2008, Reuters reported. Stronger banking stocks helped the S&P 500 index hit its highest level since the collapse of Lehman Brothers. "The corporate picture still looks very bright, the trend toward higher profits is going to continue and public policies should remain shareholder-friendly," said Henk Potts, equity strategist at Barclays Wealth. "In terms of the macro environment, we would expect most of the economies to keep growing and that is a pretty powerful mix." The Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) world equity index was up 0.1 per cent, having earlier hit 328.89, its highest since early September 2008. The index has gained nearly 10 per cent this year. The FTSEurofirst 300 index was up slightly on the day, having hit a 27-month peak earlier, while emerging stocks were steady. Tokyo was shut for a holiday. "Broad-based dollar appreciation in 2011 is possible, reflecting our optimism that the US economy could be entering a period of economic growth that surprises the financial markets. Our profile for dollar strength for 2011 will show the larger part of appreciation taking place in H1 2011," Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ said in a note to clients.
