Egypt’s benchmark index ended modestly higher with sentiment helped by news that Arabiyya Lel Estithmaraat bought an 85 percent stake in the Omar Effendi department store chain.

Arabiyya, which closed up 9.6 percent, purchased the stake in the well-known Egyptian chain from a Saudi company. "The market doesn’t have a reason to drop … It just needed positive news," said Osama Mourad of Arab Finance Brokerage, adding that the purchase "triggered a bit of optimism."

The benchmark index ended up 0.1 percent, at 6,698 points.

Gains by heavyweights Orascom Construction Industries and Orascom Telecom, rising 1.3 percent and 1.6 percent, are outweighed by weakness in Commercial International Bank, which dipped 0.7 percent.