For the sixth day in a row, Egypt's main index EGX 30 rose on Monday as foreigners were driven by a bullish mood, traders said. Arabs and non-Arabs made net purchases of LE161 million ($29.3m) and LE26 million respectively, they added. Jumping by 5.08 per cent to LE7.24 per share, Orascom Telecom (OT), the largest Arab mobile operator by subscribers, helped boost the EGX 30 gains. The North African country's main index EGX 30 inched up by 0.9 per cent, ending the day's trading at 7,515.06 points. But the EGX 70 index, which measures 70 of the country's small and mid caps, slipped by 0.38 per cent to 748.75 points. Volume hit LE1.7 billion, according to the Egyptian Exchange. Orascom Construction Industries, Egypt's largest builder by market value, inched up by 0.13 per cent, closing at LE282.66 per share. The Algerian unit of Orascom Telecom paid $113 million to the Algerian tax authority representing the last of the principal the authorities say Orascom owes for 2005-2007, the firm said on Sunday, according to Reuters. The Cairo based firm added that payment of $25 million of penalties had been suspended pending a court ruling. It has now paid $597 million in principal plus $49 million in penalties. In a related event, Egyptian appliance maker Olympic Group will pay a cash dividend of LE1.25 per share, the Egyptian Exchange said. The dividend will be paid on April 29 to investors holding shares on April 26, the bourse said. The firm paid a dividend of 0.75 pounds in April 2009. Meanwhile, markets saluted a eurozone deal on a huge standby rescue package for Greece, slashing the debt-laden country's borrowing costs and buying its stocks and bonds as fears of a near-term default dissipated. The euro rose, the yield on short-dated Greek bonds fell by over a point to around 5.9 percent and the cost of insuring Greek debt against default narrowed dramatically from Friday's close as markets were impressed by the bigger-than-expected EU rescue plan. "It's almost a market that's in disbelief that we've seemingly got a solution to this problem," said Sean Maloney, a rate strategist at Nomura. But a German government spokesman raised a potential hitch by saying European leaders would have to agree at a special summit to activate the aid mechanism, in which Germany would be the biggest contributor with 8.4 billion euros ($11.4 billion). That contradicted statements by the head of the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers and the European Commission that a decision by the ministers would be sufficient and could be taken by teleconference like Sunday's deal on the rescue plan. The euro slipped slightly from 1.3610 to 1.3590 after the German spokesman's comment, while yields on Greek debt were little changed.
