CAIRO: Egypt s main stock indexes inched higher on Sunday, breaking a four session losing streak, with local institutions buying and investors optimistic over a near approval of the US bank bailout plan, brokers said.
Local institutions were back to buying as stocks like EFG-Hermes and Commercial International Bank became very cheap, said Mohamed Kotb, investment manager at Jazira Asset Management.
Investment bank EFG-Hermes, the most heavily traded share by turnover, rose 1.38 percent to last trade at LE 33.80 ($6.20), while CIB was 2.08 percent up at LE 39.24.
This is a normal rebound for the two stocks with the cheap multiples they have now, Kotb added.
The benchmark CASE 30 index ended 0.84 percent up at 7,003.68 points after hitting a high of 7,045.27 during the trading session. The Hermes index gained 0.61 percent to 626.85 points.
The broader CIBC index ended 1.45 percent higher at 366.83 points.
The rise came as US lawmakers on Sunday were set to sign off on a deal to create a $700 billion government fund to buy bad debt from ailing banks to stem a credit crisis threatening the global economy.
Heavyweight Orascom Telecom inched 0.2 percent up to LE 40.13, while Heliopolis Housing gained 1.21 percent to LE 35 after the firm said its net profit jumped 18 percent in the financial year ended June.
But Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) fell 1.31 percent to last trade at LE 310.
We saw strong foreign selling pressure on the stock in the last 30 minutes of the session, Kotb said. Foreign investors were net sellers on Sunday.
