Egypt's index climbed on Thursday driven by the Commercial International Bank (CIB) and Madinet Nasr Housing.

Benchmark index, EGX30, gained 1.61 percent to record 9,729 points while daily stock turnover registered LE895 million (about $127.8 million).

Non-Arab foreign investors were net buyers to the tune of LE166.4 million (about $23.7 million) while Egyptians were net sellers to the tune of LE160 million (about $22.9 million).

An analyst at a Cairo-based investment bank told Ahram Online that foreign buyers were encouraged by the Euromoney Egypt Conference in Cairo and the EFG-Hermes conference in London.

The CIB, which registered the highest turnover in the session, tends to attract foreign investors, said the analyst.

The EGX30's leading stock gained 1.79 percent to LE49.88 per share, registering LE83.3 million ($11.9 million) in turnover.

Madinet Nasr Housing recorded the second highest turnover in the index amounting to LE75.2 million ($10.7 million) while achieving the highest gains at 6.42 percent to LE47.43 per share.

The real estate company announced on Thursday that its Tag Sultan project will be complete by October 2015 and that the project will generate LE2 billion (about $285 million) in sales.

Six of October for Development and Investments Company (SODIC) gained 3.39 percent to LE48.33 per share and Talaat Moustafa Group (TMG) holding inched up 0.55 percent to LE11.01 per share.

Egyptian Financial Group-Hermes, (EFG-Hermes), rose 2.82 percent to LE19.3 per share.