Egypt's main index rose slightly on Monday on retail and non-Arab buying, traders said. But Arab sales weighed on the country's EGX 70 index, which measures 70 of the country's small and mid caps, they added. The North African country's benchmark index EGX 30 rose by 0.15 per cent, ending the day's trading at 7,019.47 points. The EGX 70 index fell by 1.13 per cent to 800.3 points. Volume hit LE886.6 million ($162 million), according to the Egyptian Exchange. Orascom Construction Industries, Egypt's largest builder by market value, fell by 0.37 per cent, closing at LE258.61 per share. Orascom Telecom, the largest Arab mobile operator by subscribers, slipped by 0.58 per cent to LE6.89 per share. In a related event, Pioneers Holding is contesting a court ruling against a subsidiary of the Egyptian financial services firm over a case that involves share manipulation, the company said on Sunday. The initial case against Pioneers Securities was brought by Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA), Pioneers said, adding that the court issued its ruling two months ago. "The judgment in this case was issued in absentia. It is a preliminary judgement, has been contested and returned for review before the same (court) circuit," Pioneers said in a statement carried by Reuters. Meanwhile, Egyptian Refinery Company (ERC) is seeking to raise equity for its $3.5 billion scheme. The scheme requires $1.2 billion in equity and $2.25 billion in debt. The construction contract with the GS/Mitsui South Korean/Japanese joint venture team for the new refinery will cost $2.1billion. Project developer Citadel Capital will hold eight per cent of the $1 billion equity. State-owned oil company EGPC will hold 15 per cent with half paid upfront. The scheme will take light products and fuel oil from EGPC's Cairo Oil Refinery Company (CORC) and crack then into valuable light products such as diesel, fuel oil, jet fuel and naphtha, to be sold back to EGPC under a take-or-pay contract with prices based on international norms. Globally, the euro held near a nine-month low against the dollar. World stocks improved slightly in trading thinned by holidays in China and the United States. But concerns were also intensifying over the debt restructuring of state-owned conglomerate Dubai World, which pushed the cost of insuring Dubai sovereign debt against default 11-month highs. The Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) world equity index was up 0.2 per cent, after posting its first weekly gain in a month last week. The FTSEurofirst 300 index gained 0.7 per cent with banks such as HSBC and Barclays leading the way.
