Egypt's property shares push market up 0.3 percent

Egypt’s stocks rebounded Wednesday from minor losses yesterday on activity in the real estate and financial services sectors. The main index, the EGX30, closed up 0.3 per cent recording 5.911 points and is expected to reach the limit of 6000 on Thursday for the first time since December 2010. Mostafa Badra, a capital market expert, told Ahram Online that investor confidence in stable property shares pushed up the market as the sector made 18.5 per cent of the total daily turnover, which stood at LE931 million. "I think that the market will surpass LE1 billion tomorrow," Badra commented. Palm Hills Development (PHD), Six of October Development and Investment (SODIC) and Talaat Mostafa Group (TMG) saw rises of 2.1 per cent, 0.3 per cent and 3.6 per cent respectively. Similarly, the financial services’ sector, including EFG-Hermes (down one per cent) and Citadel Capital (up 4.3 per cent), was active during trading for the day, seeing a turnover of LE237.3 million. Meanwhie, the Algerian government is negotiating with Egypt's ASEC Cement to acquire a minority stake in its Algeria-based operations, the firm's main stakeholder told the stock exchange Wednesday. Cairo-based private equity firm Citadel Capital has a 48.5 per cent share in ASEC Holding, which in turn owns 61 per cent in ASEC Cement. Egypt’s largest steel producer, Ezz Steel, gained 4.2 per cent in trading. On the other hand, heavyweight shares Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH) and Commercial International Bank (CIB) remained on foreign investors’ profit-taking list, who sold some of LE31.1 million. OCI fell 0.1 per cent while OTH and CIB stood unchanged at zero. OTH on Tuesday announced its audited results for the first half of 2012, showing a before-tax income of LE1.5 billion representing 59 per cent growth on the same period last year. The broader EGX70 index slipped 1.1 per cent. (ahram)