Egypt's main EGX30 index finished up 0.12 percent on Sunday amid low turnover of LE198.6 million.

Trading in four companies made up 35 percent of turnover, Ashraf Abdel-Aziz, head of institutional sales at the Cairo-based Arabia Online Securities, told Ahram Online. These were investment bank EFG-Hermes, which gained 1.39 percent, Commercial International Bank, which gained 0.39 percent, Palm Hills Development Company, which gained 1.4 percent, and Orascom Telecom Holding (OT), which fell 0.21 percent.

"The price volatility of major stocks such as OT and EFG-Hermes is also limited by pending deals," Abdel-Aziz added.

A merger deal between EFG-Hermes and Qatari investment company QInvest is set to expire on 3 May unless it receives long-awaited approval from the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority.

A deal is also pending for a subsidiary of Altimo to buy 100 percent of shares in Orascom Telecom Holding.

Foreign investors offloaded a combined net LE25.5 million worth of shares on Sunday, which saw 66 traded shares rise while 53 fell.

The broader EGX70 index rose 0.31 percent.