After starting the day in the red, Egypt's stock exchange reversed its direction upwards in Monday's session. Egypt's benchmark EGX30 raised slightly by 0.64 per cent to close at 5,344.32 points. Total turnover was LE 645.7million.

The real estate sector led the trend upwards with some shares reaching new levels. "Some shares like Sodic and Talaat Moustafa Group Holding (TMG) reached levels they haven't reached in months," said Ashraf Abdel-Aziz, head of Institutions Sales at Arabeya Online Securities. TMG's share value increased by 1.64 per cent to come close to LE5, while Sodic increased by 5.32 per cent to close at LE17.81.

"The real state sector might continue to lead the market in tomorrow's session. There is no special declaration or news that gave this sector a surge. Maybe something will be revealed soon," said Abdel-Aziz.

Commercial International Bank (Egypt), the third biggest market cap, pushed the market up, gaining 2 per cent. Blue chip Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) gained 0.36 per cent, while Telecom Egypt lost 0.51 per cent.

Performance of telecommunications shares were not very positive, possibly on the back of a boycott campaign around mobile phones on 18 March, after Egypt’s three mobile giants Etisalat, Vodafone and Mobinil decided to impose a monthly stamp duty worth LE0.51 and an annual duty worth LE6.10 per subscriber.

At EFG-Hermes, Egypt's leading investment bank, performance was solid and kept an upward direction from the start of the session. Its share ended the day up by 5.53 per cent.

Out of 17 sectors, seven increased, five declined and five remained unchanged.

Foreigners were net buyers, recording a net flow of LE17.2 million; Arabs reversed their strategy, shifting from sellers to buyers during the session to close as net buyers. Domestic investors closed as the only net sellers. "There was a good purchasing power during the day. Yesterday foreigners were net sellers by LE 4 billion. It is a positive shift," says Ashraf Abdel-Aziz.

Of the market's 187 listed stocks, 98 finished up on Monday, while 75 recorded losses.

The broader EGX70 index and EGX100, meanwhile, closed the day up by 0.78 per cent and 0.70 per cent respectively.

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