Egyptian shares rebound, led by OT

CAIRO, June 14 – Egyptian shares rebounded on Thursday when investors showed renewed interest in Orascom Telecom (OT), despite the company s decision to abandon its bid for Telecom Italia s stake in Brasil Telecom Participaecoes, dealers said. Orascom Telecom was the second most heavily traded stock, after Suez Cement, because the company was buying back its shares, said Ahmed El-Hifnauy of EFG Hermes Securities Brokerage. It closed 4.2 percent up at LE 73.40 ($12.88). OT said in late May that it planned to buy back from the market 37.7 million of its own shares – about 3 percent of total equity – before June 29 No one was really counting on the bid for Brasil Telecom, Hifnauy added, Investors are positive and everyone is eyeing the Q2 results. Suez Cement also rallied to close 1.1 percent up at LE 55.71 a share due to block trading, dealers said. El Sewedy Cables rose 10.3 percent to close at LE 69.24 after a bullish run over the past week. The company recently announced plans for a huge expansion in the region, said Sherif Farrag of El Nour Securities, causing heightened interest in the stock. A recent investor favourite, Arab Cotton and Ginning, enjoyed high turnover and gains on Thursday, closing 6.64 percent higher at LE 9.48. It s been dormant for a while and you will find a lot of speculators like the stock because of the liquidity and because of the high volatility, said el-Hifnauy. There is research out that gave Arab Cotton and Ginning a 12-month target of LE 14, so people are buying the shares, said Hashem Ghoneim of El Nour Securities. Egypt s CASE30 Index closed 1.65 percent up at 7,736.61, while the benchmark Hermes Index closed 1.4 percent up at 6,9130.71. The broader CIBC-100 Index was up 0.53 percent to close at 347.57 points.