CAIRO: Profit-taking on mobile phone operator and market mainstay Orascom Telecom (OT) sent the two main Egyptian stock indexes slightly lower on Thursday in light trade, brokers said. The biggest Arab mobile phone operator by subscribers last traded 1.7 percent lower at LE 28.38 ($5.14). The Cairo-based group said last week it would start operations in North Korea this month, sending shares higher. A week ago (OT) shares were trading at about LE 23 or LE 24, so it is natural for some investors to lock profit after these gains, said Karim Hosny of Pharos Securities. The market overall is very quiet. The turnover is laughable, he said. Shares in Commercial International Bank (CIB), Egypt s top privately owned listed bank, shed 2.32 percent to LE 34.49. Bucking the downward trend was Orascom Construction Industries, Egypt s largest listed builder, which rose 0.76 percent to LE 128.06 even after HSBC lowered its price target to LE 305 from LE 636. Overall, the benchmark CASE 30 index ended 0.68 percent down at 4,453.40 points and the rival Hermes index fell 0.26 percent to LE 416.27. The broader CIBC index ended 0.04 percent up at 283.1 points.
