Egyptian stocks traded broadly flat on Sunday as investors waited for Telecom Egypt (TE) IPO details due on Monday, traders said. Media Production City bucked the trend to rise on news of a new chairman.
The TE IPO will be one of Egypt's biggest, with an expected value of more than 6 billion Egyptian pounds ($1 billion). Investors hoped the share price, allocation and deposit requirements would be unveiled at Monday's prospectus launch.
"I think people are waiting to see what's going to be in the (TE) prospectus. People are just a bit hesitant until they know more details," Yasser Hassanein of Dynamic Securities said.
The benchmark Hermes index shed 19.05 points to 49,127.43 points, hovering well below recent highs after investors sold stocks to raise cash for the TE IPO.
The broader CIBC index gained 0.72 points or 0.4 percent to end the day at 208.3 points.
Media Production City (MPC) topped the percentage gainer table, rising 2.3 pounds, or 21.7 percent after a change of chief executive officer, adding dynamism to otherwise flat trade.
INTERBANK RATE DIPS:
The median overnight interbank rate on the Egyptian pound dipped to 9.2 percent on Sunday from Thursday's 9.289 percent in quiet trade as dealers awaited the results of a treasury bill auction, bankers said.
The central bank auctioned 91-day treasury bills worth a total of 1 billion Egyptian pounds ($173.6 million) earlier in the day.
Three out of 12 banks contacted by Reuters dealt overnight at rates between 9.10 and 9.5 percent, compared to between 9.2 and 9.375 percent on Thursday.
Three banks dealt one-week money at rates between 9.25 and 9.5 percent, compared to two deals on Thursday at 9.3 and 9.375 percent.
On the foreign exchange market, the pound held broadly steady against the dollar at 5.7593 pounds at 1100 GMT, compared to Thursday's closing weighted average of 5.7591.