Bourse gains Thursday worth EGP 2.4b

The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) indexes closed up Thursday backed by share purchases by foreign investment institutions and mutual funds and Arab individuals after overcoming the repercussions of the acquisition crisis of CI Capital, the investment arm of the Commercial International Bank (CIB).

The market capital achieved gains worth EGP 2.4 billion to reach EGP 406.5 billion.

The EGX 30 benchmark index soared 0.57 percent to close at 7,463.1 points.

The broader EGX 70 index of the leading smaller and mid cap enterprises (SME) increased 1.68 percent to hit 374.75 points.

The all-embracing EGX 100 index also rose 1.15 percent to close at 794.49 points.

In February, CIB signed a deal to sell CI Capital to Orascom Telecom Media and Technology Holding (OTMT), owned by businessman Naguib Sawiris, for EGP 924 million ($104.06 million).

Sawiris said at the time he planned to merge CI Capital with Beltone Financial, which OTMT bought last year, to create one of Egypt's largest investment firms but the deal has been stalled since then.

The Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) announced delaying the acquisition due to pending issues on the deal's sides.