CAIRO: Egypt s benchmark index climbed 3.2 percent to 6,485 points, lifted by gains in major international markets and encouraged by second quarter earnings from Egyptian big caps that did not fall short of analyst expectations.
The index is close to highs for the year hit this month.
Quarter-on quarter (results) seem to be improving a little bit and this should pull up the market a little, said Mohamed Seddiek at Prime Securities, after Telecom Egypt and Commercial International Bank reported figures.
But he added that the major factor lifting Egyptian shares is positive sentiment abroad. European markets have been climbing on Thursday.
The results were reasonable. They were within expectations. Nothing was deviating from expectations from analysts in the market that s why I don t see exceptional performances, said Wafik Dawood of Naeem Brokerage.
He also cited buoyant international markets as the main factor helping Egypt.
Egypt is one of the markets where people do not look into financials in depth, he said. As a market, we are a follower (of other markets).
Telecom Egypt, whose shares rose 3.1 percent, reported a second quarter net profit up 16 percent on a year earlier. Shares in Commercial International Bank climbed 3 percent, despite second quarter net profit sliding 17 percent on a year ago.
Traders pointed out that both results were within expectations of analysts. -Reuters
