Egypt's bourse climbed to a four-month high on Monday on optimism over foreign financial support, while UAE investors took cash off the table, weary of trading on a possible index upgrade. Egypt's benchmark index rose 0.8 percent to its highest close since January 27 when a popular uprising that unseated President Hosni Mubarak was gathering pace.
--- UAE investors weary of trading on possible MSCI upgrade
Interim Finance Minister Samara Radwan said Egypt had agreed with the International Monetary Fund on a $3 billion loan. "Definitely the positive sentiment comes from the huge aid package," said Osama Mourad, chief executive of Arab Finance Brokerage. Earlier, the World Bank, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United States and other donors have pledged billions of dollars in various forms of aid to Egypt.
Citadel Capital jumped 10 percent, taking the stock back to mid-April levels. Orascom Construction climbed 2.2 percent. Dubai's index ended lower for a first session in three with Emaar Properties and Dubai Financial Market (DFM) each down 1.6 percent. Telecoms operator du slipped 0.9 percent.
The index fell 0.6 percent, edging closer to Wednesday's two-month low, as investors await a decision by influential index compiler MSCI on a possible upgrade of the benchmark to emerging market status. "Locals are taking some cash off the table as they wait to see what happens with MSCI," said Matthew Wakeman, EFG-Hermes managing director for cash and equity-linked trading.
"Retail investors are getting impatient. They started playing the MSCI announcement a little bit early, expecting international investors would follow, but that hasn't happened." This is spurring some local traders to sell up and reinvest in other markets such as Egypt. Aldar Properties, accounting for more than a sixth of shares traded, rose 2.2 percent, while rival Sorouh Real Estate added 2.3 percent. In Saudi Arabia, most large cap stocks fell, halting a four-day rally as banks and petrochemicals weighed.
The banking index slipped 0.8 percent and the petchem sector index fell 0.4 percent. The two sectors account for the largest share of the market. Alinma Bank, the second most active stock, fell 0.5 percent. Banque Saudi Fransi dropped 2.3 percent. "If banks do not perform we cannot break the current range," said a Riyadh-based fund manager who asked not to be identified. "Also, there is a lack of liquidity," he said. Banks are expected to rally after an expected drop in provisioning in coming quarters, with the year-end a likely time for bank stocks to rebound, he added.
The main benchmark ended 0.3 percent lower. In Kuwait, Zain climbed 4 percent, rebounding from Sunday's 16-month low. "It's mainly technical - Zain has been sold off along with the rest of the market, so people have started bottom fishing and Zain is one of the first names they go for," said Wakeman.
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