[2008-07-16]  OCI sends Egyptian indexes higher, OT drops
Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), Egypt's largest listed builder, led main stock indexes up on Tuesday, defying a downward trend in global and Middle East stocks.
Shares in OCI, the most heavily traded stock by turnover, last traded 3.3 percent higher at 406.50 Egyptian pounds ($76.55) cheered on by an HSBC report on July 10 that raised the group's target price to 600 pounds from 590 pounds.
"The report is still pushing OCI," said Ashraf Akhnoukh of CIBC brokerage. Shares in the company have risen 7 percent since HSBC issued the report.
Two other traders attributed the rise in the share prices of the construction group to market speculation that the Al Nahayan family, the rulers of the oil-rich emirate of Abu Dhabi, were interested in buying a 5 percent stake in OCI.
OCI executives were not available for comment.
The benchmark CASE 30 index gained 0.8 percent to 9,732.61 points. The well watched climbed 0.7 percent to 846.84 points while broader CIBC index rose 1.1 percent to 497.74 points.
Overall, the number of rising stocks was 104, while 65 shares fell, according to Reuters data.
Bucking the upward trend was market mainstay Orascom Telecom (OT) which lost nearly 5 percent to last trade at 59.60 pounds.
Traders said OT, one of the biggest mobile phone operators in the Middle East, was more prone to global declines in technology and telecom stocks. Investment bank Morgan Stanley cut the Cairo-based group on Wednesday to equal-weight from overweight.
Shares in Pioneers Holding plunged 13 percent on profit-taking to last trade at 19.90 pounds. Shares in the investment bank jumped more than 100 percent between June 24 and Monday's close.
Teymour el-Derini of Beltone Financial said investors may have realised that the significant jump in the company's share price was unjustified.
Source: © Guardian News and Media Limited 2008