[2007-08-24]  Egypt shares tend up, banking sector bullish
Major Egyptian shares tended upwards on Thursday, taking their cue from international markets recovering from worries about the U.S. mortgage market.

Traders said the banking sector was especially bullish on a review of the sector after National Bank of Kuwait bought 51 percent of AlWatany Bank last week at more than four times the bank's book value.

Commercial International Bank (CIB), one of the country's biggest private-sector banks, last traded 2.3 percent higher at 67.30 pounds.

Faisal Islamic Bank surged 21.9 percent to 56.00 pounds in relatively low volume, and Export Development Bank of Egypt gained 10 percent to 33.99 pounds on expectations of good first-half results, brokers said.

Alexandria Commercial and Maritime, which is majority owned by Union National Bank of the United Arab Emirates, rose 3.2 percent to 22.90 pounds.

"People are re-evaluating the banking sector upwards," said Hashem Ghoneim of El Nour Securities.

Bassim Arida of CIBC brokerage said CIB and investment bank EFG-Hermes had fallen to attractive levels after the U.S. credit worries hit the market.

But the most heavily traded share, Egyptian Resorts lost 4.1 percent to last trade at 10.89 despite a board recommendation of a one-for-five stock dividend.

Ghoneim said investors may have been disappointed that the board meeting on Wednesday did not mention any imminent sale of land from its large Red Sea coastal holdings.

The benchmark Hermes index gained 0.19 percent to 67,435.59 percent and the widely watched CASE 30 rose 0.32 percent to 7,584.51 points. The broader index slipped 0.12 percent to 355.69 points.



Source: © Reuters 2007.