CAIRO - For the fifth day in a row, Egypt's main index jumped Monday on news of selling Orascom Telecom's share in Mobinil to France Telecom, traders said. France Telecom said it had reached an agreement to buy a 30 per cent stake in Mobinil for LE6 billion ($1 billion), they added. Egypt's benchmark EGX30, which has gained 40.7 per cent since the beginning of the year, jumped by 4.2 per cent to a six-month high of 5,099.36 points, while the broader indexes EGX70 and EGX100 added 2.3 and 3.15 per cent to hit 479.8 and 801.2 points respectively. Volume exceeded LE725 million, according to Bourse data. "News of the deal lifted the telecom sector and pushed up the market as a whole. Telecom companies leapt by 10 per cent, which is the maximum limit allowed by regulations," Ahmed Saleh, a Cairo-based analyst, told the Egyptian Mail. Mobinil soared 10 per cent to LE137.89 per share. Orascom Telecom (OT), the largest Arab mobile operator by subscribers, rose by 2.35 per cent to LE4.36 per share. The market's capitalisation added LE11.6 billion to LE368.7 billion. The country's landline monopoly Telecom Egypt leapt by 9.11 per cent to LE16.89 per share. "What we have seen is very positive. I believe the market is on the rebound. Investors are more and more confident that the worst is over," Saleh said. Locals and Arabs made net purchases worth LE10.6 million and LE6.9 million respectively. Non-Arabs made net sell-offs worth LE17.5 million by the end of the day, starting a profit-taking wave seen to dominate trading. After the five-day gaining streak, the indexes are expected to slip Tuesday or Wednesday on profit-taking, another analyst said. "The market may take a swift slide due to fast profit-taking, especially by local investors," analyst Mohamed Assem forecast, adding that the market "won't see sharp declines as used to be". Egypt's heavyweight Commercial International Bank (CIB) jumped by 4.46 per cent to LE24.34 per share. EFG-Hermes, the country's biggest investment bank by market value, gained 4.11 per cent to LE12.91 per share. Orascom Construction Industries rose 2.52 per cent to LE266.43 per share.
