Egypt's benchmark stock market index closed at a record high on Sunday, helped up by telecoms firm MobiNil which rose on expectations of strong results and a reported price target upgrade, traders said. The Hermes index, the benchmark measure for Egypt's big caps, rose 1,051.68 points, or 4 percent, to 27,611.24, an all-time high for the index that has climbed around 15.5 percent since the start of 2005 after doubling in value in 2004.
The broader CIBC index finished up 1.85 points at 117.78 points, after the market reopened following a Muslim holiday. The previous session was on Tuesday last week.
MobiNil, or Egyptian Company for Mobile Services, surged 13.91 Egyptian pounds ($2.37), or 10.5 percent, to last trade at 147.02 pounds, a move most dealers attributed to expectations of strong full-year results due out next month.
Mohamed Radwan at Delta Securities said US firm Merrill Lynch had raised its price target on MobiNil to 165 pounds, which he said had prompted foreign buyers.
Last week, MobiNil impressed investors with an announcement that it had more than 4 million subscribers at the end of 2004, ahead of some expectations.
Oriental Weavers, which manufactures and exports carpets, also climbed 5 percent to last trade at 70.21 pounds, also on the back of strong earnings expectations, dealers said. Shares in National Societe Generale Bank (NSGB) climbed a modest 0.8 percent on the first day of business since France's Societe Generale announced that January 19 would be the start date for its two-week offer to buy a 24.05 percent stake. SocGen, which already owns 54.33 percent of NSGB, had earlier announced it would offer 54 pounds for each NSGB share but had not said when the offer was valid from.