[2007-12-07]  Egyptian shares hit new record, OT in the lead
Regional mobile operator Orascom Telecom rose for the fourth straight session on Thursday to boost Egypt's main indexes to fresh highs as foreign buying continued on big caps, brokers said.
OT, the most heavily traded stock by value, gained 1.4 percent to 89.24 Egyptian pounds ($16.14), helped by brokerage reports raising its target share price, traders said.
Prime Brokerage raised Orascom's price target on Thursday to 93.60 pounds from 84.20 pounds.
"We have had more than one evaluation putting the fair value between 90 and 94 pounds," said Islam Abdel Aty of el-Shorouk Brokerage.
Brokers said investors were also optimistic over potential new expansions in Asia.
The firm's Chairman Naguib Sawiris told Reuters earlier this week the firm was eyeing greenfield expansion in North Korea, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
"Because of Sawiris' history of good investments, everyone is optimistic that he will do the same again," said Tarek el-Khayyat, senior trader at Delta Securities.
OT said late on Wednesday it agreed to sell its remaining 14.2 percent stake in Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd (HTIL) for a total of US$960 million to make a $600 million profit from the sale of its full investment in the company.
Traders said the sale of Hutchison gives the company a reserve of cash it could use to make an acquisition.
Shares in Heliopolis Housing, Egypt's largest listed real estate firm by market value, surged more than 8 percent to 542 pounds during the sesssion before last trading at 536 pounds or 6.8 percent up.
Khayyat said expectations Dubai's ETA Star may raise a bid for a stake in Egyptian real estate firm Medinet Nasr was generating optimism in the real estate sector.
Overall, the benchmark Case 30 index continued to rally at record levels for the fifth consecutive session, gaining 0.9 percent to close at 10,171.60 points after hitting a life high of 10,215.62 during the session.
Egypt's Hermes index was at a closing record, rising 1 percent to 89,695.94 points, while the broader CIBC index climbed 0.5 percent to 400.02 points.
Abdel Aty said profit-taking could hit the market when it resumes trading on Sunday.
"I see profit taking looming as investors may prefer to cash in their gains," he added.
Source: © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007