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Egyptian Stocks Slip from Record Highs | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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CAIRO, (Reuters) – Egyptian stocks slipped from record highs on Wednesday despite high volume and strong buying in some textile and real estate stocks.

Medinet Nasr Housing and Development rose 7.2 percent to 80.50 Egyptian pounds ($14.78) on rumours that an investor, possibly from the Gulf, might make an offer for the company, which owns land in the Cairo suburbs, brokers said.

The Dubai company ETA Star offered last year to pay 70 pounds a share for Beltone Financial’s 30.88 percent stake in Medinet Nasr in a deal that would have been worth about 1.73 billion pounds. But talks did not lead to an agreement.

The brokers said the rumours also pushed up the price of Arabia Cotton Ginning shares because the textile company has a 3 percent stake in Medinet Nasr.

“It would make a capital gain if a deal on Medinet Nasr goes through,” Yasser Hassanein of Dynamic Securities said.

Arabia Cotton Ginning, the day’s most heavily traded stock, last traded 13.2 percent higher at 13.10 pounds.

Another ginning company, Nile Cotton Ginning, also gained 13.2 percent, to 39.70 pounds but the brokers dismissed the rise as speculative and not based on fundamentals.

“The company has a very small free float, so it can be volatile,” Hassanein said.

In the real estate sector, Egyptian Resorts rose 2.3 percent to 8.76 pounds in heavy trade. “The shares had been lagging for a long time, so it was time they moved,” said Mohamed Ashmawy of CIBC brokerage.

Out of the 10 most heavily traded stocks, seven ended the day higher but overall declines outnumbered advances.

The benchmark CASE 30 index and the widely watched Hermes index both closed 0.3 percent down at 11,663.31 points and 101,356.6 points. But the broader CIBC 100 index was 0.6 percent higher at 567.88.

The first two indexes are heavily weighted by big caps such as Orascom Telecom, which fell 1.1 percent to 79.00 pounds, Orascom Construction Industries, which lost 1.4 percent to 423 pounds, and investment bank EFG-Hermes, which closed 1.6 percent down.