Egypt indexes inch up, Alexandria Real Estate gains

(Reuters) - Egyptian stock indexes rose slightly on Thursday supported by major real estate shares including Alexandria Real Estate Investment, which jumped after an acquisition offer, brokers said.

Talaat Mustafa Group said it had made an offer to buy Alexandria Real Estate, its partly-owned subsidiary, for 394 Egyptian pounds per share in an equity swap as part of wider expansion plans.


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Egyptian indexes decline as Orascom Telecom dips

(Reuters) - 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, while shares in fellow market heavyweight Orascom Construction Industries dipped 0.6 percent to 398.90 pounds.


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Wheat Futures Rise as Price Slump Spurs Overseas Demand for U.S. Supplies

(Bloomberg) -- Wheat futures rose in Chicago for
the first time in five sessions on improved overseas demand for
U.S. supplies after prices fell from a record high.

Egypt, Japan and buyers in Taiwan this week said they
bought or planned to buy a total of more than 460,000 metric
tons of U.S. wheat. Importers are increasing purchases after
futures fell 5.9 percent from a record $6.50 a bushel on June
29. World inventories are forecast to fall before next year's
harvest to the lowest since 1982.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Alexandria Real Estate says H1 profit up 220 pct

(Reuters) - Egypt's Alexandria Real Estate Investment's net profit in the first half of 2007 is up 220 percent at 105.4 million Egyptian pounds, a company spokesman said on Tuesday.

However, trading in the shares on the Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchange (CASE) was suspended on Tuesday until the company responds to CASE inquiries on the results, the bourse said in a statement.


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Egypt c.bank sees inflation below 7 pct by year-end

(Reuters) - Egyptian Central Bank Governor Farouk el-Okdah said on Monday he expected a further drop in the country's rate of inflation by the end of 2007.

"The inflation rate is now 8 percent and is expected to drop to 7 percent in August and under that by the end of the year," Okdah told a news conference. "This signals the success of our monetary policy."


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Egypt to get $1.6 bln plus from Cairo bank sale - PM

(Reuters) - Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif said on Monday he expected the privatisation of Banque du Caire to raise more than $1.6 billion in a public auction that would be open to foreign bidders with no restrictions.

Nazif's government aims to put up for auction 80 percent of the state-owned bank in six to nine months, and float another 15 percent on the stock exchange up to a year later.


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Egypt median o/n interbank steady at 8.752 pct

(Reuters) - The median overnight interbank rate on Egypt's pound was steady on Sunday at 8.752 percent, the same as on Thursday, as banks squared their positions toward the end of a two-week reserve ratio period, dealers said.

"This is a periodic trend, especially as the market is still very liquid," one dealer said.


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T.Italia close to Brasil Telecom stake sale-report

(Reuters) - Egyptian telecom operator Orascom Telecom pulled
out of talks to buy the Telecom Italia stake in Brasil Telecom
last month.




Brasil Telecom's controlling shareholders are a group of
Brazilian state-run pension funds and Citigroup , which
have said in the past they plan eventually to sell their stakes.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Emerging mkts flooded by local-currency global bonds

(Reuters) - A large chunk of the new issuance is denominated in the
Brazilian real , which has gained more than 14 percent so
far this year. But sovereign bonds are also being offered in
other strengthening local currencies, such as the Colombian
peso , the Peruvian sol and even the stable
Egyptian pound .




Despite being denominated in local currencies, those bonds
are more accessible to international investors because most are
settled in international markets and payable in dollars.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Sawiris Faces Opposition From Hedge Fund Arx on Wind Debt Refinancing Plan

(Bloomberg) -- Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris
faces opposition from hedge fund Arx Investment Management to his
plan to refinance about 8 billion euros ($11 billion) of debt at
Wind Telecommunicazioni SpA.

Arx is protesting because Wind, Italy's third-biggest mobile
phone company, is increasing the amount of senior loans that rank
before bonds for repayment. Rome-based Wind said it will
compensate bondholders by paying them 4 percent of their
investment, an offer that will be cut to 2 percent after July 10.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Egyptian shares rise despite cautious sentiment

(Reuters) - Egyptian shares continued a week-long rally as the CASE30 index recorded a new year closing high for a third consecutive day on Thursday, despite cautious investor sentiment, according to analysts.

Market performance during the day was relatively volatile as it headed down early in the session before reversing the trend before the market's close.


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Egypt shares rise, OT gains over cash influx news

(Reuters) - Egyptian shares rose on Tuesday as the well-watched CASE30 index hit a closing year high led by gains in Orascom Telecom (OT) after it said it would receive a $793 million cash influx, traders said.

OT shares rose 3.8 percent to 77.75 Egyptian pounds after the firm said on Monday it had received the cash from Hutchison Telecom following Hutchison's sale of its Indian subsidiary Hutchison Eassar in May.


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