DUBAI: Stocks rose in Saudi Arabia and Egypt in early trade on Wednesday, moving in line with oil prices and global equity markets.
Saudi Arabia’s main stock index edged up 0.5 percent with most stocks rising. Petrochemicals heavyweight Saudi Basic Industries gained 1.0 percent.
Telecommunications operator Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) surged 4.4 percent after Bloomberg reported that it planned to sell its towers for at least $1.7 billion in the first quarter of 2016. The company has not made any official announcements on the report. It said in July it was still studying a potential sale.
Egypt’s benchmark index climbed 1.0 percent and Telecom Egypt climbed 4.7 percent after the brokerage Prime Holding said the stock had an upside potential of 115 percent, recommending it as a “buy”.
Most other stocks also advanced, and bourse data showed that non-Egyptian Arab investors were the main net buyers on the market.
Some analysts have said they expected Egypt’s central bank to cut interest rates at a meeting on Thursday, but three of five economists surveyed by Reuters on Tuesday said it would leave rates unchanged, balancing efforts to control inflation with attempts to stimulate its struggling economy.
On the other hand, two economists expected the central bank to cut rates by 50 basis points.