Egyptian stocks up after opposition parties agree to vote in referendum

Egypt's stock market advanced to the highest level in more than two weeks amid low turnover and steady foreign investment in shares deemed attractive.

The EGX 30 Index rose 2.6 per cent yesterday to close at 5,149.68 points, the highest level since November 22. Foreign investors bought shares after opposition parties agreed to vote in the referendum after a week of continued protests near Mohammed Morsi's presidential palace demanding revocation of the constitution.

"The agreement by the opposition to participate, even with a 'no' vote was the main reason why the market is up today," said Wafik Dawood, the head of institutional equity sales at Mega Investment Securities in Cairo. "I think the move is slightly exacerbated on low volumes and thin offers," he added.

About 470 million Egyptian pounds were traded yesterday, compared with a 20-day average of 300m pounds.

"Investors looking for long-term value investment consider this a decent entry point irrespective over the backdrop and what happened last night,"said Julian Bruce, the director of institutional equity sales at EFG Hermes.

In the UAE, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index lost 0.5 per cent to 2603.64, while the Dubai Financial Market General Index slipped 0.09 per cent to 1,587.45.

Elsewhere in the region: Kuwait's measure added 0.1 per cent to 5932.30; Qatar's QE Index added 0.1 per cent to 8345.97; Oman's MSM 30 Index gained 0.4 per cent to 5,649.08; Bahrain's index added 0.1 per cent to 1,046.55.

The Saudi Tadawul All-Share Index moved 0.1 per cent to 6,769.96.

halsayegh@thenational.ae