Egypt market rises 2% despite prospect of elections delay

Egyptian stocks continued to rebound for the second consecutive day on Thursday, despite an administrative court order suspending the country's second post-revolution parliamentary polls. The benchmark EGX30 index ended the week up by 2 percent to reach 5,365 points, while bellwether stock Orascom Telecom (OT) surged by a whopping 5 percent. In a statement to the Egyptian Stock Exchange, OT announced plans to obtain licences for 3G mobile-phone networks in Algeria, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The broader EGX70 index, meanwhile, rose by 0.8 percent in a daily trade session that saw some LE373.6 million in turnover. Dmestic investors ended Thursday’s trading as net sellers to the tune of LE16.3 million, while foreign investors made some LE22 million worth of purchases. The buying spree by foreign investors fired the market, driving heavyweight shares Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) and Commercial International Bank up by 0.8 percent and 2.7 percent respectively. Talks between the government and OCI officials over alleged tax evasion by the latter remain ongoing, meanwhile, with Egypt's prosecutor-general on Thursday forming a technical committee to assess the company's tax position. Property shares also performed well on Thursday, led by Talaat Mostafa Group (up 1.7 percent), SODIC (up 1.4 percent) and Palm Hills (up 1 percent). From: ahram