Egyptian stocks ended up on Sunday after retail investors showed interest in small-cap stocks like Ezz Steel Rebars and Orascom Hotels and Development, traders said. The benchmark Hermes index closed up 519.87 points, or 1.4 percent, at 38,106.36 points. The broader CIBC index rose 2.27 points, or 1.7 percent, to 137.30 points.
Investors were buying stocks they considered undervalued, the traders said.
"There was buying from retail investors ... They were going for the small caps because they have fallen recently and it looks like a good time to buy," Yasser Hassanein of Dynamic Securities said.
Ezz Steel last traded up 1.09 Egyptian pounds ($0.33), or 5 percent, at 23.06 pounds, well below its record high of 36.28 pounds reached last month.
Orascom Hotels and Development last traded up 1.53 pounds, or 4.7 percent, at 33.95 pounds. The stock hit a record high of 61.65 pounds in March.
Among the fallers was ASEC Cement Co, which last traded down 1.9 percent at 26.81 pounds.
Egypt's Arab-Swiss Engineering Co (ASEC) said on Sunday it had initialled a deal for Italy's Italcementi to buy its 68 percent stake in ASEC Cement Co.
The Italian firm would offer to by the remaining 32 percent of ASEC Cement Co through the stock exchange at an expected average price per share of between 29 to 31 pounds per share, an ASEC official said.
Traders said investors had been expecting offers to be over 30 pounds per share.
interbank rate dips
The median overnight interbank rate on the Egyptian pound slipped slightly to 9-3/4 percent on Sunday from 10 percent on Thursday, with no new factors to significantly impact demand, traders said.
"There is nothing new in the market today ... The rates are about the same as Thursday," one of the traders said.
Banks were not in need of funds in the middle of a central bank period for calculating banks' reserves, and there were no new auctions or maturities, the traders added.
The central bank has launched a new band for overnight rates, paying 9-1/2 percent on deposits and lending at 12-1/2 percent, guaranteeing a minimum return to banks placing funds and a maximum cost for those seeking to borrow. Only three of the 14 banks contacted by Reuters had dealt in overnight money, citing a range of 9-3/4 and 10 percent. On Thursday, rates ranged between 10 and 10-1/2 percent.
No banks dealt one-week money on Sunday. In the previous session, three banks dealt one-week money at rates of between 10-1/4 and 10-1/2 percent.
The overnight CAIBOR rate fell to 10.3065 percent from 10.3661 percent on Thursday. The one-week CAIBOR slipped to 10.6012 from 10.6607 percent on Thursday.
The pound remained unchanged at 1000 GMT from Thursday's weighted average of 5.7978 pounds against the dollar.
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