A rise in big caps and foreign buying pushed Egypt's market up on Thursday with its main index EGX 30 gaining more than 48 points, traders said. Orascom Construction Industries, Egypt's largest builder by market value, jumped by 1.39 per cent, closing at LE260.68 ($47.5) per share. EFG-Hermes, Egypt's largest investment bank by market value, rose by 1.58 per cent to LE30.91 per share. The North African country's benchmark index EGX 30 rose by 0.72 per cent, ending the week's trading at 6,765.26 points. The EGX 70 index, which measures 70 of the country's small and mid caps, added 1.11 per cent to 703.46 points. Volume hit LE1 billion, according to the Egyptian Exchange. Orascom Telecom, the largest Arab mobile operator by subscribers, jumped by 1.83 per cent to LE5.56 per share. Meanwhile, the dollar rose to a ten-month high against the euro and a basket of other major currencies before slipping back slightly, as jitters over eurozone debt combined with a general flow toward relative safety. World stocks as measured by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) were flat, with gains in Europe offset by weak emerging markets. Investors continued to show concern about stability in the euro zone on the back of ongoing Greek troubles and Wednesday's downgrade of Portuguese debt. The euro has been punished by uncertainty engendered by what comes down to a fight about whether one euro zone country should bail out another. The single currency recovered slightly to $1.3330 after hitting a low of $1.3285 in Asian trading. "Short-term speculators are probably all short on the euro, but there are long-term investors who are patiently holding back," said Kazuyuki Takami, senior manager of foreign exchange trading at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. "But depending on the developments, those long-term investors could also start dumping the currency, taking it further and further down," he said. Eurozone government bond prices were slightly lower, catching up with moves in the US Treasury market which sold off late the previous session after poor demand in a five-year note auction. European shares edged up, helped by oil majors gaining as commodity prices eased off lows. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was up 0.1 per cent at 1,076.38 points. Earlier, Japan's Nikkei closed up 0.02 percent.But emerging market shares were down nearly a quarter of a per cent. Despite continually being cited as a favorite by institutional investors, emerging market shares have underperformed this year and the MSCI benchmark is barely in positive territory. Some investors may be pulling back because of concerns that too much money is chasing too few assets could create a short-term bubble.
