CAIRO: El Kahera Housing led gains in Egypt’s main index on market talk the firm is the target of an acquisition and is eyeing buying new land.
Traders said Egyptian brokerage Pioneers Holding is looking into acquiring El Kahera, whose shares rose 4.7 percent.
"(There is talk) Pioneers wants to acquire all of El Kahera Housing," said Mohamed Swefy, senior account executive at Osool Brokerage, adding there is also market talk El Kahera is eyeing acquisition of new land.
The main index fell 1 percent with all but six stocks making gains on the 30-constituent index.
Among gainers is Citadel Capital, which rose 0.7 percent on expectations Taqa Arabia, an energy distribution subsidiary of the firm, would generate high profits on positive global outlooks for the energy sector, traders said. "The expectations for Taqa are boosting the stock," said Hisham Metwally of Arab Finance Brokerage.
Orascom Telecom slipped 1.5 percent to LE 5.3 ($0.9) per share despite a news report which said the Algerian government was getting closer to buying the firm’s Djezzy unit.
Overall, the EGX30 index closed at 6,408 points.
