Middle east markets: Egypt at one-month high; Gulf stocks down

Egypt's bourse hit a near one-month high on Sunday, buoyed by optimism after foreign aid pledges, while most Gulf markets fell on low buyer interest. Egypt's main index rose 3 percent to its highest close since April 7.
US President Barack Obama pledged last week to relieve Egypt of $1 billion of debt and guarantee another $1 billion in borrowing to finance job creation and infrastructure.
Saudi Arabia then said on Saturday it would provide cash-strapped Egypt with about $4 billion dollars to help bridge its funding gap, which was widened by the unrest that forced former President Hosni Mubarak out of office.
"The market's reacting positively to all the news of foreign aid being poured into the country," said Mohamed Radwan, head of equities at Pharos Securities, noting that financial stocks are likely to benefit from the extra funds. Shares in Orascom Construction rose 3.5 percent and Ezz Steel jumped 6.8 percent.
Qatar's index fell 0.4 percent to its lowest close since May 9 in lacklustre trading, while losers outnumbered gainers 15 to four. Investors await a government announcement on increasing foreign ownership limits for securities, a condition for an index upgrade by compiler MSCI. The upgrade would potentially open up the countries' bourses to billions of dollars worth of new investment.
"We are of the view that we will hear about Qatar foreign ownership law soon - (it) could come imminently," said Tarek Lotfy, Arqaam Capital Head of MENA equities. "That would bode well for the market."
MSCI will announce at its June review whether it will upgrade Qatar and UAE to emerging market status. They are currently ranked as a frontier market.
Property stocks weighed on UAE markets, with indexes in Dubai and Abu Dhabi ending 0.3 percent lower each.
A current lack of catalysts is weighing on the markets as investors seek clarity on MSCI's decision.
Traders focused on real estate stocks. Deyaar and Arabtec slid 0.3 and 0.7 percent respectively. Tabreed ended 0.7 percent lower after it said Abu Dhabi state-owned fund Mubadala had increased its stake to 26.1 percent in the district cooling firm.
Saudi Arabia's bourse rose for a fourth session to hit a new four-month closing high, but traders were cautious as they tried to gauge the health of the global economy. The benchmark climbed 0.3 percent to its highest close since January 17. It is up 2 percent in 2011.
"Market is mostly flat like other regional markets - the reason for this is the uncertainty about Europe," said Hesham Tuffaha, head of asset management at Bakheet Investment Group. "People are worried that (the) global recovery could be easing."
The euro fell against the US dollar on Friday on fresh fears of a Greek debt default, which also sent global stocks lower. Seven of the 10 largest Saudi stocks gained, with Al-Rajhi Bank up 1 percent and Etihad Etisalat up 0.5 percent.