Egyptian shares edge 1.2% higher on foreign buying

Egyptian stocks ended Wednesday higher bolstered by foreign buying appetite. Egypt’s main index, EGX30 picked up 1.19 percent, to 7572.39 points.

Investment bank EFG Hermes climbed 3.7 percent to 11.65 pounds, its highest finish since last July. It has been in an uptrend since mid-May; Dubai Group told Reuters that it would divest its 11.8 percent stake in EFG by the end of 2016, and investors are hoping that a strategic shareholder could benefit the company. A week ago, HSBC raised its target for the stock to 13.2 pounds from 11.5 pounds.

Other indices; EGX50 EWI index moved up 0.66 percent, to 1392.93 points; while EGX20 climbed 1.30 percent, to 7721.06 points.

Mid- and small-cap index EGX70 fell 0.22 percent, to 372.99 points. Price index, EGX100 rose 0.41 percent, to 787.04 points.

Market Caps

Market capitalisation gained 3.8 billion Egyptian pounds ($427.7 million), to record 404.239 billion pounds during the closing session of Wednesday.

Turnovers

The bourse’s trading volume hit 150.015 million securities, with turnovers, closing at 825.993 pounds, exchanged through 17,641 transactions.

Also during the closing session, 177 listed securities have been traded in, 47 declined, 69 advanced; while 50 kept their previous levels.

Investors’ Activities

Arab and non-Arab foreign investors were net buyers controlling 3.39 and 17.74 percent respectively of the total markets, with a net equity of 3.160 million pounds and 33.84 1million pounds, respectively, excluding the deals.

On the contrary, local investors were net sellers capturing 78.88 percent of the total market, with a net equity of 37.001 million pounds, excluding the deals.