Egypt index stable with heavy trade in OT and Commercial International Bank

CAIRO, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Egypt's benchmark index was little changed on Wednesday as heavy buying on Orascom Telecom (OT) balanced out selling on Commercial International Bank, traders said.

OT shares rose for the fourth day in a row after the company said it would seek to buy back up to 65 million of its own shares across three months.

'There is foreign appetite on the stock (OT). We're seeing foreigners buying into the stock, and this is reflected on the global depositary receipt price as well,' said Mohamed Kotb, Director of Asset Management at Naeem Financial Investment.

Shares in the largest Arab mobile phone operator by subscribers last traded 4.79 percent higher at 21 Egyptian pounds ($3.76) per share.

'It's a very cheap stock,' said Hashem Ghoneim of Pyramids Capital.

But the surge on OT failed to lift the CASE 30 index , which closed 0.21 percent down at 3,546.04 points, weighed down by heavy selling on Commercial International Bank (CIB).

The bank, Egypt's largest publicly traded lender, reported a weaker-than-expected 6.5 percent rise in 2008 net profit, and its shares fell 4.87 percent to last trade at 33.40 pounds.

Market heavyweight Orascom Construction Industries gained 2.12 percent to 103.50 pounds, while Telecom Egypt lost 1.82 percent to last trade at 15.11 pounds.

The Hermes index rose 0.11 percent to 340.93 points, while the broader CIBC index gained 2.86 percent to 237.7 points.

($1 = 5.5618 Egyptian pounds)

(Writing by Aziz El-Kaissouni) Keywords: MARKETS EGYPT/CLOSER ([e-mail]; [phone]/1; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.