Egypt’s stocks hit the highest level in at least eight years on Tuesday following cash flow from foreigner investors, who were clearly attracted to the prices of heavyweight shares, an analyst told Ahram Online.
The market’s benchmark EGX30 rose 2.48 percent to register 10,096 points in the third consecutive session to see a high daily turnover for the listed securities, exceeding EGP 1.7 billion.
“Since the central bank decision to float the Egyptian pound, the GDR* shares led by the Commercial International Bank and Global Telecom Holding have seen heavy attention from foreigners due to their attractive dollar prices,” said Eissa Fathi, the head of the securities division at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce.
The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) decided last week to freely float the pound against the foreign currencies as part of a set of reforms aimed at alleviating a dollar shortage, eradicating the black market and stabilizing the country's flagging economy.
Since the CBE's decision, the pound’s rate against the US currency has been devaluing to register an average EGP 18 per dollar from EGP 8.8 before.
Out of 183 stocks listed for the day, 88 went up and 62 shares declined.
Only the foreign investors were net buyers to the tune of around EGP 564 million.
The Commercial International Bank, which was most traded during the session, soared 2.37 percent to close at EGP 65.31 per share.
Global Telecom Holding surged 3.45 percent to register EGP 5.70 per share.
Ezz steel also increased 0.91 percent to register EGP 7.77 per share.
However, the leading listed real estate developers Talaat Mostafa Group and SODIC both went down 0.29 percent (EGP 6.80 per share) and 1.3 percent (EGP 14.12 per share) respectively.
