CAIRO: Egypt's benchmark index cut a four-day losing streak on Sunday and rose 5.1 percent, the third day of trade since political turmoil closed the bourse for more than seven weeks.
The EGX30 on Sunday posted its first gain since mass protests demanding President Hosni Mubarak be ousted erupted on Jan. 25, with jittery investors grabbing stocks they believed had become cheap, traders said.
"The panic has slowed down gradually ... and prices have fallen to attractive levels that prompted buying," said Hashem Ghoneim, vice chairman of Pyramids Capital.
Index heavyweights Orascom Telecom and Orascom Construction jumped 10 percent and 7 percent respectively.
"People were expecting the worst and saw a bleak picture, but optimism returned to the market when the worst did not happen," Ghoneim added.
Defensive telecoms stocks and dollar-denominated Maridive and Oil Services helped the main index rebound from last week's 12.3 percent fall.
Traders cited buying appetite in the telecom sector with optimism that a Vimpelcom and Orascom deal could be completed successfully.
"Investors are very bullish on Orascom Telecom, which has fallen to cheap levels, helping pull the telecoms sector up," Ghoneim said.
Shares in Mobinil and landline monopoly Telecom Egypt surged 10 percent. Commercial International Bank, Egypt's biggest listed lender, gained 8.5 percent.
Maridive rose 9.7 percent and is seen as one of the top picks on the index with the bulk of its operations outside Egypt and a booming oil services industry.
Shares in EFG-Hermes, Egypt's biggest listed investment bank, rose 5.7 percent. The broad index also rose 7 percent.
But construction and property firms bucked the trend as negative sentiment continued to dominate on stocks mired in legal disputes or connected to Mubarak's ruling party including Ezz Steel and Palm Hills.
Ezz Steel Chairman Ahmed Ezz, who was a top official in Mubarak's party, has been detained since Feb. 17 pending trial on suspicion of squandering public funds.
Palm Hills faces a legal challenge contesting its purchase of a plot of land from the state. A judicial panel concluded earlier this month the sale was illegal because it was priced too cheaply and said it should be scrapped.
Shares in Ezz Steel and Palm Hills tumbled 10 percent each. Talaat Moustafa Group, Egypt's biggest listed developer, slumped 10 percent and SODIC lost 6.6 percent.
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