CAIRO: Egypt’s benchmark index gained two percent after Pioneers Holding said it will buy out investment bank Beltone Financial and boosted by gains late last week in international markets.
Pioneers led trading by volume and turnover, with more than 12 million shares exchanged in the session, and closed 5.7 percent higher.
“A lot of people see a synergy in this deal, though they think Pioneers are going to buy at a much higher premium, said Karim Hosny from Pharos Securities.
Hosny and other brokers, however, said the main driver is markets in the United States and elsewhere, which gained late last week when the Egyptian market was closed.
“We just realigned, or readjusted, with what happened in the US market on Thursday and Friday, said Osama Mourad, chief executive of Arab Finance Brokerage.
Commercial International Bank added 2.1 percent and Egypt Kuwait Holding gained 2.3 percent, while the index ended 2 percent higher at 6,680 points. -Reuters
