Cairo – Mubasher: The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) started Thursday's trading session in the green territory on foreign buying.

The main index (EGX30) gained 100 points, or 1.2%, to stand at 8,260.5 points by 10:45am Cairo time.

The small and mid-cap index EGX70 rose 0.71% to 335.9 points.

The broader index EGX100 and the equal-weighted index EGX50 were higher 0.9% and 1.4%, respectively.

Foreign and Arab investors were net buyers by EGP 2.9 million and 852,000 correspondingly, while Arab investors were net sellers by EGP 3.7 million.

By category, institutions were net buyers by EGP 14 million.

Trading value reached EGP 81 million after 21.4 million shares were traded.

Beltone topped the gainers with a 9.9% rise, while Alexandria Pharmaceuticals was the worst performer with a 6.8% slide.

Earlier, Ayman Fouda, head of capital market committee at the African Economic Council, expected said if the benchmark index succeeds in holding above 8,160 points, it will likely have resistance at the 8,200 – 8,260 zone and support at the 8,080-8,000 area.