CASE30 finishes 1.2% up at over EGP 2 bln
Tus 19 Feb 2008 3:43 PM
CASE 30 Index finished today's session 1.2 % up, adding 126 points to close at 10601 pts; its highest since Jan. 20th. 168 stocks were traded, at 111.23 million shares volume and over EGP 2.2 billion value, through 65.64 thousand transactions.
Construction sector boosted trading value, dominating 28.89% or EGP 642 million, led by Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), whose trading value exceeded EGP 412.09 million, or 18.46% to increase 0.58% and close at EGP 593.48.
Upper Egypt General Contracting increased 14.01% with EGP 101.66 million trading value to close at EGP 11.88, retreating from EGP 12.65, an intraday high.
South Valley Cement rose 4.74% to EGP 62.47 million to close at EGP 19.24. These 3 stocks controlled 89.75% of the sector’s trading value.
Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH) was 2.57% higher to EGP 82.4 with a trading value of EGP 177.35, dominating 7.94% of total value.
Osoul Brokerage CEO, Moustafa Badrah, said that OTC was traded heavily by foreigners, pushing CASE30 more than 100 pts north.
OCI rose after HC Brokerage had defined its target price at EGP 692.31 saying that OCI is able to proceed with success in fertilizers sector as it was in cement, benefiting from using low-priced natural gas, provided by the Egyptian and Algerian governments. This will be reflected positively on OCI financial performance.
Badrah added that CASE30 succeeded in breaking 10500 points that technical analysts considered as a solid resistance point, meaning that trading volumes are heading north and the key players continue leading. He warned against forecasted rapid profit-taking during the next days, indicating that traders anticipate corrective trends going in line with the market rise.
Premiere Brokerage CEO, Mohamed Assran, said the uptrend reflects optimism in Arab and global markets. The new liquidity, injected recently by Arabs and foreigners, helped trading values rebound, breaking EGP 2 billion and regaining confidence on CASE, he indicated.
He expected waves of profit after recent rises in CASE30.
