Cairo – Mubasher: The Egyptian Exchange ended Thursday's trading session on a stronger note, as the main index EGX30 successfully moved above 6,500 points.
Stimulated by the purchases of local and foreign institutions, the benchmark ended the session higher 191 points or 3% to 6,563.65 points.
Blue-chip stocks, Ezz Steel in particular, led today's uptrend, after the government eased gas supply prices to energy-intensive industries, said Sameh Gharib, head of technical research, Roots Securities.
Ezz Steel stock rose 20.8% to EGP 8.13 with a turnover of EGP 49.8 million after 6 million shares were traded in more than 1,000 transactions.
"The main gauge is still having support at the level of 6,300 points and is expected to run upwardly during next Sunday's trading session", Gahrib added.
The equal-weighted index EGX50 inched up 1.37% to 1,227.78 points. The small and mid-cap EGX70 edged up 0.20% to 354.45 points. And finally, the broader index EGX100 edged up 0.68% to 735.13 points.
Gharib said that EGX70 is still moving in a narrow sideways trend between the support level of 354 and the resistance level of 360 points, making a slight rise today. However, the small and mid-cap index is expected to restore the previous levels, at least the level of 360 points, as long as it keeps standing at the support level of 345.
Market capitalisation added EGP 8.67 billion ($1.1 billion) to reach EGP 411.56 billion against EGP 402.89 billion yesterday.
Market liquidity registered the highest level since last July as it reached EGP 970.5 million after 420 million shares were traded.
Moreover, the bourse saw 105 stocks move up, 42 move down, and 30 stay unchanged.
Sector-wise, banks took the lion share of market capitalisation by 24% or EGP 78 billion, followed by the real estate and telecom sectors by 14.6% and 12.4% respectively.
National and foreign investors were net buyers by EGP 11.4 million and EGP 38.4 million in a row, while Arabs were net sellers by EGP 49.8 million.
By category, all institutions, excluding the Arab ones, tended to purchase, while individuals were sellers.
Translated by Ahmed El-Sayed Ali
