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Egyptian indexes decline as Orascom dips

CAIRO - Egyptian stock indexes dipped on Sunday following declines in global markets and amid continued caution over an offer by big cap Orascom Telecom to buy Raya, brokers said.

Orascom Telecom lost 0.8 percent to end at 77.50 Egyptian pounds ($13.67), while shares in fellow market heavyweight Orascom Construction Industries dipped 0.6 percent to 398.90 pounds.

“With global markets falling just before the weekend, OCI and OT were moderately affected. The two stocks normally fall into the interest zone of foreigners,” Hashem Ghoneim of el-Nour Securities said.

Overall, the well watched CASE 30 index slipped 0.6 percent to close at 8,419.83 points, while the benchmark Hermes index dipped 0.5 percent to 73,920.05 points. The broader CIBC index was near flat at 346.82 points.

The stock exchange said on Sunday that a 10-day period for accepting selling orders in response to OT’s offer to buy all Raya shares at a price of 12 pounds per share will begin on Wednesday. Raya’s chairman has described the price as naive.

Shares in Raya rose 0.2 percent in heavy trade to end at 13.02 pounds, more than a pound higher than the OT offer.

Real estate and housing shares were among the worst performers with Medinet Nasr Housing down 4.7 percent to 287.51 pounds and Alexandria Real Estate losing 2 percent to 402.84 pounds. Sixth of October Development and Investment fell 2.5 percent to close at 165.50 pounds.

“Profit taking continued in real estate, leading the sector stocks down. These stocks did very well in the previous weeks and it is normal that investors would offload gains,” Mohamed Faragallah of el-Shorouk Brokerage said.