Egypt’s main index continued to decline on Europe debt worries, but heavyweight Telecom Egypt cushioned the fall, jumping 4.1 percent after it said it was considering boosting its stake in Vodafone’s Egypt unit.
The prospect of a deal also helped push up shares in mobile operator Mobinil, which started to look undervalued compared to the possible price Vodafone Egypt could fetch, traders said.
"A lot of people are saying the valuation of Vodafone Egypt will be high, so they’re taking the same EV/EBITDA multiples and seeing where it would be on Mobinil," said Teymour El-Derini of Naeem Brokerage. Mobinil rose 4.6 percent.
The EGX30 inched down 0.4 percent, with Maridive and Oil Services shedding 4.1 percent, more than any other firm on the index.
Brokers said the Egyptian market will continue to take its direction from Europe in the coming days.
"I think this Europe crisis is even closer to us than what happened in the US," said Karim Hosny of Pharos Securities.
"Geographically we are closer, there is direct trade with a lot of countries in Europe, and the Egyptian market has decent foreign participation," he added.
The 30-company index closed at 6,394 points. It has fallen nearly 16 percent since April 27.
