Egypt indices open Sunday collectively higher

The Egyptian Exchange’s (EGX) indices opened Sunday’s trading session in the green, backed by Arab investors’ purchases and amid reduced fears after several people who were convicted of manipulation were released.

Earlier this month, the Cairo Criminal Court ordered the arrest of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s two sons, Gamal and Alaa, over unlawful stock manipulation in Al Watany Bank of Egypt (AWB). The pair was released last week.

By 10:20 am Cairo time, the benchmark EGX30 index gained 0.64 percent or 89.75 points to reach 14,173.23 points, while the EGX70 index edged up 0.06 percent to 683.31 points, the broader EGX100 grew 0.37 percent to 1,746.6 points, and the equal-weighted EGX50 index increased 0.94 percent to 2,192 points.

Turnover amounted to 37.8 million pounds after 14.3 million shares changed hands through 1,430 transactions.

The Commercial International Bank’s (CIB) stock, the heaviest-weighted stock on the EGX, added 1.25 percent to reach 82 pounds.

In the meantime, several blue-chip stocks traded higher, including Orascom Construction, which jumped 9.85 percent, while Madinet Nasr Housing Development (MNHD) and Emaar Misr gained 6.35 percent and 6.10 percent, respectively.

Earlier on Sunday, head of capital market committee at the African Economic Council Ayman Fouda forecast that the EGX’s negative performance would continue on Sunday, albeit in a milder rate, amid some selective blue-chip purchases.