CAIRO - Egyptian stocks rose on Sunday on local and non-Arab buying, traders said. Locals and non-Arabs made net purchses worth LE10.2 million ($1.7 million) and LE17.6 million respectively. Arabs made net sell-offs worth LE27.8 million, according to Bourse data.
Volume totalled LE522 million, according to Bourse data. The country's benchmark index EGX 30 gained 0.12 per cent to 5,511.15 points. The broader indexes EGX 70 and EGX 100 were also in the black, rising by 0.16 and 0.08 per cent to 654.04 and 1,011.31 points respectively. Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) slipped by 0.43 per cent to LE282.07 per share. Orascom Telecom, the largest Arab mobile operator by subscribers, rose by 0.47 per cent LE4.25 per share. Egypt's heavyweight Commercial International Bank (CIB) added 0.17 per cent to LE30.27 per share. EFG-Hermes, the country's biggest investment bank by market value, added 0.1 per cent to LE20.6 per share. Egyptian real estate stocks are seen to get some support this week after billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal signed a deal with the Government to resolve one of a string of land disputes that have bedevilled the sector, according to Reuters. Developers have been reeling from a string of legal tussles over purchases of state land under Egypt's former president, and a widening graft probe had already scrapped sales to the two biggest listed Egyptian developers, Talaat Moustafa Group and Palm Hills Development. "This helps in getting things back to a normalised footing so people can start signing contracts again and making decisions about investing in Egypt," said Michael Millar, head of research at Naeem Brokerage. Egypt had already said it would set up a committee to settle problems surrounding investment contracts. The market will also likely continue to rise after investors regained confidence when the government scrapped a plan to tax share dividends. Egypt's new budget introduced a 10 percent tax on dividends as well as a 5 percentage point rise in income taxes on corporations and individually owned companies. Finance Minister Samir Radwan told Reuters he would not revive the dividend tax this year and is looking for ways to reduce planned expenditure as a result. "The market is up because the cancellation of the capital gains tax was seen as a mistake," says Mohamed Radwan, the head of equities in Pharos Securities. "The Government's revision of the decision was in favour of Egypt's investment climate".
