The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) is likely to see a sideways-to-rising performance amid new market-boosting catalysts, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s report regarding the latest review of the Egyptian economic reform programme it is backing.

Egypt will receive the fourth tranche of the IMF loan tied to the programme next July, Finance Minister Mohammed Moeit said.

The fourth tranche will be added to the Arab nation’s foreign reserves at the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), Al Masry Al Youm reported, citing the minister.

The recently formed cabinet has not submitted any requests to the IMF regarding the extension of Egypt’s economic reform programme, set to end in 2019, or obtaining another loan, according to a reliable source.

The reform programme will be subjected to two reviews, scheduled in December 2018 and June 2019, a source at the IMF, who declined to disclose his name, said.

The indices of the EGX are expected to move upwards next week, the head of the capital market committee at the African Economic Council, Ayman Fouda, said.

The benchmark EGX30 index may retest resistance at 16,260 and 16,336 points if it settles above 16,100 points, and it could retest 15,780 points if it breaks support at 16,060 and 15,900 points, Fouda added.

The small- and mid-cap index EGX70 is still moving in a downward direction and it may retest 815 points if it breaks sub-resistance at 803 and 809 points, he added, pointing out that the index has support at 796 and 785 points.

He recommended investors trade on active stocks with positive financial results amid the short-term bearish trend, in line with buying on margin.

For his part, the customer relations manager at Arabeya Online, Michael Mamdouh Naguib, said that the EGX concurred with the ongoing sideways movement.

He added that the EGX30 has main support at 15,900 and 15,780 points, while its resistance will be seen at 16,209 and 16,400 points.

The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) closed last week’s trading session in green territory.

The benchmark EGX30 index jumped 202.29 points, or 1.25%, finishing the session at 16,345.77 points on the back of blue-chip stocks topped by the heavyweight Commercial International Bank’s (CIB) stock, up 1.62% to EGP 85.73.

Market capitalisation gained EGP 9bn and closed the session at EGP 917.7bn.

The small- and mid-cap index EGX70 went up 1.22% to 811.36 points, while the broader EGX100 index added 1.24% to 2,062.80 points.

Likewise, the equal-weighted EGX50 index levelled up 1.15% to 2,883.81 points.

Trading volume amounted to around 176.6m shares exchanged at a turnover of EGP 741.8m through 22,000 transactions.

Foreign investors were net buyers with EGP 64.4m, while Egyptian and Arab investors were net sellers with EGP 61.2m and EGP 3.2m respectively.

Arab Cotton Ginning was the top gainer stock with 6.64%, followed by HADISOLB and Kima, which rose 4.615 and 3.01% respectively.

On the other hand, Telecom Egypt slipped 0.48%, followed by Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank – Egypt (ADIB) and TMG Holding, which dipped 0.17% and 0.16% respectively.

Meanwhile, Maridive and Oil Services reported a 23.3% year-over-year rise in net consolidated profit for the first quarter of 2018, recording $6.9m from $5.66m.

Revenues surged to $54.75m during the three-month period ended last March, versus $46.72m in the prior-year period, the company said in a filing to the Egyptian Exchange (EGX).

Meanwhile, standalone profits dropped by 45.5% to $1.16m in Q1 2018 from $2.1m in Q1 2017.

Standalone revenues narrowed to $20.01m at the end of March, compared $20.55m in the same period of last year.

Noteworthy, Maridive last posted an 11.4% year-over-year increase in profits for the full-year 2017, recording $23.49m from $21.07m.

In other market news, Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait – Egypt (ABK) reported a 58% year-over-year surge in net profit for the first quarter of 2018, recording EGP 109m. 

Operating income grew by 25% in the three-month period ended last March to EGP 287m as compared with the prior-year period, the bank said in a statement.

Deposits of clients rose by 18% year-over-year in Q1 2018 to EGP 20.7bn, the bank highlighted.

The bank’s total assets amounted to EGP 24.4bn in Q1 2018, versus EGP 21bn at the end of 2017.

Clients’ deposits and facilities increased by 9% in the three-month period as compared with the end of last year.

ABK achieved a growth of EGP 1bn in Q1 2018 and EGP 8bn in the past three years.

Meanwhile, four companies listed on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) were listed among Forbes Magazine’s 100 most powerful companies in the Arab world.

Commercial International Bank (CIB) came in the 38th spot on the list with sales of $1.8bn and profits of $421m.

Meanwhile, Elsewedy Electric was ranked 69th with around $362m in profits and sales of $2.4bn, while Orascom Construction was ranked 82nd with profits of $85m and sales of $3.7bn.

Moreover, Global Telecom Holding came in the 95th place among the 100 most powerful Arab firms with a loss of $41.8m and sales of around EGP 3bn.

Saudi Arabia still dominates a third of the list, with its Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) and more than half of the companies operating in the banking and financial services sector being Saudi, according to Forbes.