Update: Egypt stocks hit 2-year high in trading Sunday

Ahram Online, Sunday 20 Oct 2013

Experts say investors are now confident in the political situation in Egypt, with ongoing security challenges not affecting trading

Egypt stocks
File photo:workers at Egypt's stock exchange market are seen in the trading hall in Cairo, Egypt (Photo: AP)

Egypt’s stocks hit a two-year high during Sunday trading as investors resumed their optimistic outlook on the political situation in the country.

The main index EGX30 gained 1 percent, recording 6,049 points in the first session after a six-day holiday.

“The Bourse’s upswing is expected, as investor decisions are no longer impacted by politics; they only eye profits,” said Eissa Fathy, vice head of the securities division at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce.

Fathy told Ahram Online that a lack of reaction or even knowledge among investors of what happened Saturday - when a car bomb exploded near an army intelligence building in Ismailia, northeast of Cairo, injuring six - is proof of the market's stability.

The broader index EGX70 rose by 1 percent as well.

Out of 178 traded, 125 saw gains registering LE452 million in the daily turnover of listed securities.

Egyptians opted to take profits from the sessions prior to the holiday, ending trading as net-sellers with LE24.6 million. However, foreign investors were net-buyers of the same value.

The market’s bellwether Commercial International Bank and Global Telecom increased 1 percent and 2 percent respectively.

Last week, Global Telecom Holding announced that its Algerian subsidiary Orascom Telecom Algerie has been awarded one of three provisional 3G licenses offered in Algeria at a cost of $40 million.

Real estate developers continued their upward direction, as Talaat Mustafa Group and Six of October Development and Investment inched up 0.2 percent and 2.3 percent respectively.

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