 |
| Egypt’s share index jumped 4.1% yesterday after three days of sharp declines that took shares to their lowest level since April 2009. Investment bank EFG-Hermes jumped 7.2% |
Egypt’s share index jumped 4.1%, lifting after three days of sharp declines that took shares to their lowest level since April 2009.
“The gain is all a rebound from the drastic fall, simply a correction, especially that Egypt was one of the most to fall in the region,” said Omar Darwish, a trader at CIBC Brokerage.
“We will see leaps in finance and real estate stocks that were suspended.”
Egypt’s biggest-listed developer, Talaat Moustafa surged 5.4%, Investment bank EFG-Hermes jumped 7.2% and Pioneers Holding closed up 7.1%.
The Dubai benchmark rose from five-month lows, recovering 1.2%.
“We have seen a strong correlation in both ways with international markets but the consequences of all this mess should be less important here than in Europe or US,” says Sebastien Henin, portfolio manager at the National Investor, an investment management firm in Abu Dhabi.
Bellwether Emaar Properties gained 1.5%, and contractor Arabtec climbed 3.1%.
Abu Dhabi National Energy Co (Taqa) climbed 4.3%, helping the emirate’s index climb 1%.
Taqa rose as much as 7% intra-day after reporting that second quarter net profit more than doubled, beating analysts’ forecasts.
“There is strength across the region in names that were hammered in the last few days. It’s too early to come back aggressively in the market, except for stock-picking,” said Henin.
Certain telecoms and petrochemicals stocks are looking attractive at current levels, he added.
Saudi shares also mirrored the widespread improvement and closed 0.5% higher.
Chemical stocks rose with Yanbu National Petrochemical Co (Yansab) climbing 0.7%, Saudi Arabian Fertilizers Co (Safco) gaining 1.2% and Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic) adding 0.5%.
The Saudi market was also helped by rising oil prices.
Brent crude prices were up yesterday, following sharp losses on Tuesday.
“We saw an over-reaction for oil price fall,” said the National Investor’s Henin. “Some of these companies didn’t follow oil price when it went up in last six months, so the price correction shouldn’t be so sharp - you can accumulate names at these levels.”
Bucking the regional trend, Omani oil services firm Renaissance Services fell 2.2%, dragging the index 0.6% lower ahead of expected second-quarter earnings.
“The negative sentiment continues here, with selling in the services sector from speculators,” said Adel Nasr, United Securities brokerage manager. “The main thing we are still worried about is the global market.”
Elsewhere, Abu Dhabi’s index advanced 1% to 2,603 points; Kuwait’s measure gained 0.3% to 5,901 points and Bahrain’s measure climbed 0.6% to 1,272 points.