CAIRO: Egypt s benchmark stock index added over 3 percent on Tuesday, rising in line with Gulf Arab markets and boosted by gains in big caps such as Orascom Construction Industries, traders said. OCI, which had lost 60 percent of its value since April, climbed 2.61 percent to LE 199.02 ($35.86), while the benchmark CASE 30 index ticked 3.14 percent higher to 5,314.56 points. The rival Hermes index rose 2.82 percent to 479.69 points while the broader CIBC index slipped 0.19 percent. Selling pressure has faded away, said Mohamed Radwan of Pharos Securities. The market has been continuing its uptrend since the beginning of the week. Dual-listed Egyptian firms like OCI often take their cue from global markets, where volumes are much larger. In turn, these heavily weighted stocks usually give direction to the overall market. Shares in fertilizer firm Egyptian Financial and Industrial Co, which has shed over 60 percent of its value since June, surged 11.78 percent to LE 31.61on renewed interest from institutional investors, dealers said. Regional mobile operator Orascom Telecom also gained ground, rising 6.6 percent to LE 38.26. OT and EFIC were some of the best performers of the day. EFIC became really cheap, said Teymour El-Derini of Beltone Financial. But shares in investment bank EFG-Hermes bucked the upward trend to lose 7.02 percent to LE 23.58. The shares have lost 60 percent of their value since January. The firm said on Monday that it and Lebanon s Bank Audi had broken off merger talks due to unfavorable market conditions, but that EFG-Hermes did not intend to sell its 23 percent stake in the Lebanese bank. EFG-Hermes said on Tuesday it would eventually revisit a merger with Bank Audi. It was parked for the time being... It will be revisited at some point in the future when the environment changes, said Hazem Shawki, a managing partner.
