CAIRO: Egyptian share indexes rose on Monday led by the real estate sector with both Egyptian Resorts Company and Heliopolis Housing gaining five percent, dealers said.
Egyptian Resorts, which decided on Thursday on a two-for-three stock dividend, rose to close at LE 28.57 ($5.02). The firm, whose shares are popular among retail investors, is also raising capital through a rights issue.
Real estate has been buoyant in the market for a while. A lot of regional players are coming in, so people are fishing for these stocks, said Ahmed El-Hifnauy of EFG-Hermes Brokerage. Shares in Heliopolis Housing also rose 5 percent to end at LE 208.56. El-Hifnauy said the firm s shares were rising after unconfirmed reports that it may offer a 10 percent government stake at the right time . Officials at the firm could not be immediately reached for comment.
Overall, the benchmark Hermes index rose 1.6 percent to 65,566.10 points, and the widely watched Case 30 index ended 1.8 percent higher at 7,447.65 points. The broader CIBC-100 index gained 1 percent 315.70 points.
Egypt s Paints and Chemical Industries Co. (Pachin) jumped 7.2 percent to close at LE 56.89 after it announced through the stock exchange that it was in talks with a potential buyer for 100 percent of its shares.
The exchange said Egypt s Capital Markets Authority had received a letter from Pachin saying the potential buyer would make an offer for the stock after concluding a due diligence study. Pachin declined immediate comment.
Mohamed Radwan of Delta Securities said the Egyptian market was also affected by an influx of foreign investors, absent on Sundays, who were aggressively buying stocks, especially in the telecoms sector.
Shares in Telecom Egypt were up 2 percent to close at 16.70 pounds, while Orascom Telecom gained 2.2 percent to LE 81.90. Shares in Mobinil were flat at 155 pounds.
