CAIRO, March 17 (Reuters) - Egyptian stock indexes edged higher on Tuesday, led by market heavyweight Orascom Telecom (OT) (ORTE.CA)(ORTEq.L) despite a flurry of profit taking late in the session, traders said.

OT said on Monday its 2008 net profit after minority interest declined 76 percent to $431 million, citing exceptional gains in the previous year for the drop. But the company said that excluding these exceptions, its profit rose 7 percent.

"I think (OT's) numbers were good. The reaction to the announcement was fine, and it was up today on nice volume," said Hashem Ghoniem of Pyramids Capital.Shares in the company were the most heavily traded by value on Tuesday, and closed 3.61 percent higher at 21.81 pounds ($3.87) per share.

"We started seeing some profit taking for the rally of the past week... at the end of the session," said Mohamed Ashmawy from CIBC Brokerage.Shares in Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) (OCIC.CA)(OCICq.L), Egypt's largest listed builder, dipped 0.13 percent to last trade at 133.20 pounds.The company on Monday reported full year net profit of $719.8million, up 230 percent on the previous year.

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