CAIRO: Stocks rose on Sunday, led by rising interest in Orascom Telecom on optimism over an expected rise in the company s net profit for the first half of 2006, traders said. The market went up today basically on the back of OT, which rallied and carried a lot of weight, and this is related to the company s results that are coming out tomorrow, said Yasser Hassanein of Dynamic Securities. Walaa Hazem, a telecom analyst at HC Securities brokerage, forecast the Cairo-based company s first half results at between LE 1.9 to LE 2 billion. Shares in Orascom Telecom, with operations in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, rose 4.2 percent to close at LE 283.97. Results are due out after the close of trade on Monday. Investment bank EFG-Hermes, the most heavily traded stock, was up 3 percent to last trade at LE 40.40. The stock is popular among retail investors. EFG-Hermes shares today looked attractive, and we had a very positive view in the market about the shares since July, Hazem said. The benchmark Hermes index ended 2.3 percent up at 50,864.30 points, and the broader CIBC index finished 2 percent higher at 225.09 points. The well-watched Case 30 index rose 2.9 percent to 5,904.79 points. Some technical analysts believe that the market is going to drift downwards, and they are saying today was the highest it can get to. The market still lacks direction and a little bit of news, Dynamic Securities s Hassanein said. Reuters
Stocks rise ahead of Orascom Telecom results
