While the world markets were distracted with another round of Eurozone problems, the Egypt exchange traded fund made gains Monday on greater activity specifically in telecommunication stocks.
The Market Vectors Egypt Index ETF (NYSEArca: EGPT) was up 4.5% Monday. EGPT was down 8.0% over the past month but still up 28.3% year-to-date.
The benchmark EGX30 closed 2.4% higher Monday as confidence in Egyptian equities rose on France Telecom’s acquisition of mobile operator Mobinil held by local shareholder Orascom Telecom Media and Technology, according to Ahram Online.
Both Mobinil and OTMT stock trades were halted Thursday pending the review of an acquisition deal. It was previously speculated that the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority would reject the deal.
The telecommunications sector makes up 21.4% of the EGPT portfolio. Orascom accounts for 6.5% of the fund.
However, on the Egyptian exchange, international traders made up 27% of the day’s trades and were net sellers of Egyptian stocks. Eissa Fathy, vice president of the securities division at Cairo’s Chamber of Commerce, pointed to the global investors’ reaction to Egypt’s termination of its natural gas deal with Israel.