Egypt index rises almost 2 pct on foreign buying
CAIRO, May 5 (Reuters) - Egypt's main stock index gained almost two percent on Tuesday as foreigners bought into a range of large cap firms after a rebound in international markets, traders said.
Financial firms led the rise, with Commerical International Bank (COMI.CA)(COMIq.L) and EFG-Hermes (HRHO.CA)(HRHOq.L) both gaining more than 4 percent. One large firm that bucked the trend was Mobinil (EMOB.CA), which dipped 6.97 percent to 190.01 Egyptian pounds ($33.74) after a number of brokerage downgrades spurred profit taking.
HC Brokerage downgraded Mobinil to "sell" from "buy" due to April's stock price rally. HC, however, raised its price target on the stock by 6.5 percent to 197.6 Egyptian pounds. Shares of the company closed at 203 Egyptian pounds on Monday.
"All the valuations of Mobinil are around the 200 (pounds) figure," Mohamed Kotb from Naeem Brokerage said. "So it was normal, fundamentally speaking, that many of the brokerage firms issued a sell recommendation."
Foreign investors were net buyers by 53.8 million pounds, stock exchange data showed. Total trade volumes were above the 12 month average.
The benchmark EGX 30 index .EGX30 gained 1.92 percent to 5,256.98 points. The broader EGX 70 .EGX70 added 1.31 percent, to 595.16 points. ($1 = 5.6307 Egyptian pounds) (Writing by Alastair Sharp)
