Egypt's stock market continued rebounding on Thursday from 15-month lows, buoyed by positive corporate news, while Gulf bourses moved little as Eidul-Fitr holidays began in the region. The Cairo benchmark added 1.8 percent to 8,023 points as property names, beaten down in a series of sell-offs earlier this year, led gains.
Palm Hills Development gained 4.4 percent after saying a subsidiary had obtained a 750 million Egyptian pound ($96 million) loan from local banks to refinance debt and accelerate development of its major Hacienda Bay project by two years, with completion now scheduled for 2017. Amer Group last traded at 1.03 Egyptian pounds, up 3.0 percent and level with its June and early July peak; it came off an early high of 1.08 pounds.
Arab Cotton Ginning rose 1.4 percent after the government said late on Wednesday that it had reversed a decision to halt cotton imports. The stock dropped 10 percent last week when the ban was announced. The Egyptian market tumbled 25 percent from its peak in February to its trough of 7,527 points last week because of a range of worries, including foreign exchange and energy shortages and attacks by militants in Egypt.
It is still unclear whether the market has begun an extended rebound. Trading volume rose to its highest level in six weeks on Thursday, a positive technical sign. But the index faces major technical resistance between 8,125 and 8,261 points, the December and May lows. Qatar's stock market edged down 0.1 percent as liquidity shrank with most investors in the region already celebrating Eidul-Fitr.
But Aamal, which has assets in property, retail and wholesale trade, manufacturing and services such as cleaning, was up 1.1 percent and the most heavily traded stock after it reported a 39 percent increase in net profit for the first half of this year. The company said its industrial manufacturing division, which contributes almost 60 percent of Aamal's gross sales, saw a 39 percent jump in sales and more than doubled its profit thanks to higher margins. Gulf Warehousing Co climbed 2.4 percent after posting a 30 percent profit increase in the first half. Stock indexes in Kuwait and Bahrain barely moved, while other major Middle Eastern markets were closed for Eid.
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