Housing pushes Egyptian stocks to one-year highs

CAIRO: The two main Egyptian stock indexes hit one-year highs on Thursday as a buying frenzy continued to drive up prices in the housing and real estate sectors. The widely watched Case 30 index broke through the 7,500-point barrier for the first time since February 2006, giving a further psychological boost to the recent rally. It closed 0.26 percent up at 6,506.96 points. It s a good sign and it s driven by housing and by a recovery in Orascom Telecom, said Yasser Hassanein of Dynamic Securities. The fact we crossed 7,500 will start a rally next week and other shares which have been dormant will move up. Heliopolis Housing, one of the main beneficiaries, gained 14.4 percent to LE 330 ($58.10) despite a brief suspension while the stock exchange authorities asked what was happening. It has now risen more than 130 percent this year. The housing rally began on news this week that the Housing Ministry is expected to make at least $4.6 billion from the ongoing auction of eight large tracts of land, for which it has shortlisted three companies for each tract. The high prices offered for the land are driving brokerages to adjust their valuations for the real estate companies, and Heliopolis Housing is the one with the most land close to the areas which are up for auction, brokers said. Sixth of October for Development and Investment (SODIC), the most heavily traded stock on Thursday, last traded 2 percent up at LE 170. Orascom Telecom (OT), which had slipped earlier this week, climbed 2.2 percent to LE 79.01 pounds. But profit-taking hit two housing and real estate companies which had risen through the week. Egyptian Resorts fell one percent to 10.70 pounds and El Shams Housing and Development dropped 5.2 percent to LE 21. The benchmark Hermes index closed 0.2 percent higher at 66,244.51 points, another one-year high, while the broader CIBC index rose 0.3 percent to 321.30 points.