[2007-10-23]  Egyptian indexes slip on limited big-cap slide
A low-volume correction on some dominant Egyptian shares pulled the main stock indexes down on Sunday but four of the most heavily traded shares closed higher, suggesting an underlying bullish trend, brokers said.

The correction hit Orascom Telecom and Commercial International Bank but it spared investment bank EFG-Hermes and Orascom Construction Industries.

Brokers said it looked like an extension of the profit-taking which began last Wednesday after a long rally took the benchmark indexes to historic highs.

"It's a natural movement in the market and it is healthy. There was no rush to sell and investors are being conservative," said Eissa Fathy Eissa of Strategic Securities.

Overall volume was 1 billion Egyptian pounds, lower than in recent days, partly because many European and North American investors are not active on Sunday.

One highlight of the day was 12.3 percent gain in Egyptian Electro Cables, which is seeking permission for a 15-for-one share split effective at the end of the week. The shares closed at an all-time high of 66.38 pounds, driven mainly by retail interest, the brokers said.

The stock exchange suspended trade in Egyptian Resorts until it clarified a media report that it was going to buy 4 million square metres of land in Sinai.

The company said in a statement that its board had agreed to take at least a 70 percent stake in Rowad Dahab, which has bought that amount of land from the General Authority for Tourism Development at a price of $1 a square metre.

It plans to develop the land, which is adjacent to the Abu Galoum reserve on the Gulf of Aqaba, it added.

It also said that the company had not agreed to sell the land it has put on sale near Sahl Hashish on the Red Sea coast for less than $90 a square metre.

Egyptian Resorts shares fell 2.4 percent to close at 10.80 pounds.

The benchmark Case 30 index lost 1.0 percent to 8877.88 points, while the Hermes index fell 0.9 percent to 78,496.82 points. The broader CIBC index was 0.04 percent up at 400.88 points.


Source: © Reuters 2007.