Egypt’s principal stocks on Sunday hit the level of 8,000 points for the first time since 2008 as the main index EGX30 rose 1.4 percent.

“I am regarding today’s upturn as historical, despite [the fact that] the market recorded more in 2008 due to the big cap listed shares then,” said Mostfa Badra, a Cairo-based market expert.

The "big cap" shares Badra refers to are Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), Mobinil and National Societe Generale Bank (NSGB), which were delisted over the last two years.

In 2008, Badra said, the presence of the three heavyweight shares helped the Egyptian bourse reach 12,000 points, hitting a daily turnover worth LE2 billion.

So Sunday's performance of 8,008 points without the "big cap" shares suggests a strong step from the Egyptian market towards recovery, he said.

Active domestic investors ended the trading as net sellers with some LE48.7 million, while foreigners bought some LE79 million.

The broader index EGX70 rose 0.9 percent in a session that saw a daily turnover of listed securities worth some LE1.1 billion.

Blue chip share Commercial International Bank (CIB) increased 1.9 percent to close at LE37 per share.

Real estate developers Talaat Moustafa Group (TMG), Palm Hills Development (PHD) and Six of October Development and Investment (SODIC) rose 2.5, 1.2 and 2.1 percent to record LE7.7, LE3.3 and LE25.1 per share respectively.

Telecommunication share Global Telecom (GT) and Telecom Egypt (TE) dipped 1.5 and 0.1 percent, registering LE5 and LE14.9 per share respectively.