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Egypt stocks higher, SODIC rises on land purchase

CAIRO - Egyptian stocks edged higher on Wednesday to break a three-session slide, led by gains in small- and medium-cap stocks like Sixth of October Development and Investment (SODIC), traders said.

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SODIC shares jumped 2.37 percent to last trade at 129 Egyptian pounds ($24.33) after it announced it had acquired more land, outperforming the benchmark CASE 30 index, which gained 0.7 percent to 8,922.66 points.

"They acquired a piece of land and they are going to develop apartments there. This is why SODIC went up," said Tarek Foda of Beltone Brokerage.

SODIC said it had bought El Yousr Company for Projects and Aricultural Development in a deal worth 312.6 million pounds that gave it ownership of 1.36 million square metres of land owned by El Yousr.

Overall, Egypt's well-watched Hermes index added 0.67 percent to 773.59 points while the broader CIBC index rose 0.86 percent to 430.68 points as big caps stocks were sidelined, dealers said.

Shares in developer Talaat Mustafa gained 0.25 percent to 8.04 pounds. Investment bank EFG-Hermes said in a note that sales for Talaat Mustafa continued to be strong but would likely slow, partly to allow the firm to manage a backlog.

Other gainers included Ezz Steel, which climbed 3.58 percent to 75 pounds, and Nile Cotton Ginning, which rose 13.41 percent to 21.31 pounds. Pioneers Holding gained 4.95 percent to 17.40 pounds.

Commercial International Bank (CIB) was also up, gaining 4.25 percent to 49.99 pounds. CIB said on Sunday that the Dubai Capital Group had bought a 5.24 percent stake in the bank.

Market heavyweight Orascom Telecom, however, declined 0.92 percent to 55.21 pounds, slightly above a year low of 54.60 pounds on July 29. Shares in EFG-Hermes were 0.13 percent up at 46.53 pounds.