[2008-07-11]  OCI leads Egypt bourse to a second day of gains
Shares in Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) rose on Thursday on foreign buying, helping Egypt's benchmark CASE 30 index up for a second straight session, brokers said.
OCI, the day's second most heavily traded share by value, gained 4.3 percent, helping to boost the CASE 30 0.6 percent to 9,566.59 points. The stock last traded at 384 Egyptian pounds ($71.91).
"Foreign funds were supporting their portfolios by buying heavily into the stocks that have good fundamentals," said Hossam Abdel Rahman, senior broker at Optima Securities.
Brokers said an HSBC note on Thursday raising OCI's target price from 590 to 600 pounds also helped the market heavyweight. HSBC reiterated its "overweight" rating on the stock.
Investment bank EFG-Hermes recommended buying back into the CASE 30's major constituents in its technical focus report issued on Thursday.
"Our short-term outlook for the coming weeks sees the index in a target zone of 9,950 to 10,100 points. Our medium-term target zone, which extends until the end of the third quarter, is in the 10,250 to 10,450-point range," said Mohamed El-Aasar, senior technical analyst at EFG-Hermes.
Other big caps did well on Thursday, with Ezz Steel climbing 0.8 percent to 77.90 pounds and EFG-Hermes gaining 2.9 percent to last trade at 48.60 pounds.
Overall, the well-watched Hermes index rose 0.9 percent to a closing of 834.80 points, but the broader CIBC index ended 1.8 percent lower at 490.90 points.
Pioneers Holding, the most heavily traded stock by turnover, lost 6.9 percent to last trade at 22 pounds, while Orascom Telecom fell 1.9 percent to 62.10 pounds.
Brokers said the telecom giant was affected by its declining global depositary receipts in London.
Source: © Guardian News and Media Limited 2008