Egyptian steel companies and some other stocks expected to benefit from an improvement in Egypt's real estate sector helped lead the stock market to a more than four-year closing high on Sunday.
Media Production City (MPC) was another stronger gainer, rising 4.2 percent as one trader cited talk that the firm was shortly to list on the Dubai bourse.
"We are going to list in Dubai, but we don't talk about the details," Wessam Hendawi, MPC investor relations manager, told Reuters. He said several normal procedures had to be completed.
The stock last traded up 0.81 Egyptian pounds (0.13) at 20 pounds. The official weighted close was 20.14 pounds.
Overall, the benchmark Hermes index was last quoted up 185.53 points, or 1.3 percent, at 14,413.65 points, its highest close since February 2000. The broader CIBC index was last quoted up 0.72 points at 88.77 points.
Dealers said most of the focus was on small-cap shares, such as the steel and other local manufacturing firms, rather than big-cap stocks, such as those in the telecom sector which have already made solid gains during the past year.
Alexandria National Iron and Steel and Al Ezz Steel Rebars both climbed five percent, adding to solid gains notched up in late March. Some local construction and cement firms also climbed.
Alexandria steel last traded up 5.51 pounds at 115.75 pounds, also its official close. Ezz steel last traded up 0.34 pounds at 7.16 pounds, while its official close was 7.05 pounds.
Comments
Comments are closed.