"Recent announcements from the Bourse chairman meant investors were less worried than we expected," says Ashraf Abdel-Aziz, head of institutions sales at Arabia Online Securities.

 

Stock exchange chairman Mohamed Abdel-Salam told a press conference early on Thursday that the Bourse would not be suspended for a second time, even if the sit-in planned on Tahrir Square on Friday escalates. He said that intelligent investors know they will lose money if they panic-sell shares for less than their real value.

 

Wednesday's session saw the impact of the upcoming protests when the EGX30 declined  2.1 per cent.

 

"Investors in the Egyptian market have become accustomed to the current political situation and factor it in to their decisions," says Abdel-Aziz.

 

From 182 listed shares, 132 gained and 39 declined on Thursday, in a session with a total market turnover of LE371.7 million.

 

Egyptians were highly active, comprising 74.7 per cent of the market. They made net purcahses of LE10.1m of equities, along with foreigners who were net-buyers of LE4.8mn.

 

The broader EGX70 and EGX100 indices also saw gains, up 1.3 and 0.97 per cent respectively.

 

"It is strange when the individuals are net-sellers of LE23.4 million yet the EGX70 shows a large rise," says Abdel-Aziz.

 

The majority of heavyweight shares listed by the EGX30 were up, led by EFG-Hermes, which gained 2.5 per cent on high turnover of LE19m.

Abdel-Azis said the climb was linked to the distribution of one bonus share for every four shares held by shareholders.

 

High-caps Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) and Commercial International Bank (CIB) followed the overall northward direction, gaining 0.5 and 1.4 per cent.

 

All top players in the real estate sector gained, with the exception of Palm Hills which followed Wednesday's losses by shedding 0.4 per cent. TMG and SODIC rose by 1 and 1.6 per cent respectively.

 

Orascom Telecom gained 0.4 per cent, the only survivor in the slumping telecoms sector. Telecom Egypt lost 0.4 per cent despite the announcement of its Chairman that the state-owned landline operator is looking to introduce mobile services in a move to boost its long-term growth prospects.

 

Ezz Steel remained in the red, shedding 0.09 per cent following a threat from the Bourse authorities. The Egyptian stock exchange issued a press release asking Ezz Steel to report its 2010 financial year results within a maximum of 15 days. Egypt's largest steel producer faces a possible suspension of trading of its stock if fails to comply.