Egyptian stock market buoyed by heavyweights

The Egyptian stock market made some gains on Tuesday, with the two biggest market caps at one point in the morning pushing the overall gains of the main EGX30 index up to 1.7 percent, although the index closed on 0.88 percent at the end of the day to reach 5,242 points. Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), the biggest market cap, gained 1.61 percent to reach LE235.06, while Commercial International Bank (CIB), the second big cap, gained 2.25 percent. "OCI and CIB sustained the market as the majority of shares lost value during the day," said Ashraf Abdel-Aziz, head of institutional sales at the Cairo-based Arabia Online. Out of 164 stocks traded, only 55 registered gains, while 77 lost. The broader index EGX70 lost 0.41 percent. Orascom Telecom Holding gained 0.72 per cent after it announced it will pay a dividend of 0.26 Egyptian pounds ($0.04) per share for the year 2012. Telecom Egypt and National Societe Generale Bank (NSGB) lost 0.61 and 0.29 percent respectively. The stock market had seen a loss on Monday as a result of reports that the assets of 21 Egyptian businessmen and several Egyptian brokerage firms and bank officials had been frozen by prosecutors in an insider trading case. Egyptian investors were net buyers on Tuesday, picking up some LE34.74 million in stocks, while foreign and Arab investors were net sellers. Source: Ahram Online