Egypt stock indexes end mixed as textiles surge

CAIRO, March 2 (Reuters) - Strong local retail buying boosted Egyptian textile stocks like Nile Cotton Ginning on Sunday to help main market indexes minimise early session losses, brokers said.
"Local investors were focusing on textiles, pushing many of them over 10 percent up," said Mohamed Radwan of Pharos Securities.
Traders said market speculation over a possible acquisition move in the textile sector had boosted shares in the sector, while overall the market's benchmark Case 30 index ended 0.1 lower at 11,325.02 points.
Nile Cotton Ginning, the textile sector's top percentage gainer, surged 31.6 percent to end at 16.50 Egyptian pounds ($3.01). The firm said in January that Banque Misr had agreed to settle 200 million pounds of debt after it pays the bank 85 million pounds.
"The company also looks attractive after it rearranged its debt portfolio lately," Dina Negm of Delta Rasmala Securities said.
Arabia Cotton Ginning, the day's most heavily traded share by market value, rose 11.8 percent to 10.52 pounds, while Arab Polavara Spinning and Weaving gained 14.2 percent to last trade at 8.71 pounds.
Negm said fertilisers also shot up after the government announced doubling local prices on Saturday.
The Egyptian Financial and Industrial Company rose 7.3 percent to 270 pounds, while Samad Misr-EGYFERT jumped 15.4 percent to last trade at 38 pounds.
"The decision also pushed up shares in Orascom Construction Industries with their recent expansion into fertilisers," Negm added. OCI gained 1.9 percent to 680 pounds.
Overall, the broad CIBC index rose 2.5 percent to 491.55 points. The well-watched Hermes index was nearly flat at 99,016.81 points, as declines in some big cap stocks weighed on the the market.
Investment bank EFG-Hermes lost 4.3 percent to 61.01 pounds, while regional telecom giant Orascom Telecom was also in the red, shedding 2.5 percent to last trade at 81.40 pounds. ($1 = 5.48 Egyptian pounds) (Reporting by Wael Gamal)