CAIRO/DUBAI: The Egyptian and Saudi bourses bounced back on Monday, helped by an early rise in oil prices and a late-day turnaround in world stocks on hopes that Europe was tackling Greece's debt woes. Egypt's benchmark gained 1.7 percent, to end at its highest close in a week —4,304 points. "The market took a heavy dip yesterday (Sunday) so some recovery is normal, it is a rebound, not an actual recovery," said Nader Khedr, investment and capital market analyst. The index had dropped 2.4 percent on Sunday. In Saudi Arabia, insurance stocks led gains, lifting the kingdom's index from Sunday's 11-day low, up 0.3 percent. The insurance index climbed 3.3 percent and the banking sector gained 0.2 percent. Short-term retail investors often target insurance stocks when global markets are volatile, also favoring other sectors that rely on local, rather than international demand. The petrochemical index recovered from earlier losses to edge up 0.05 percent. Brent crude oil rose more than $1 per barrel during trading hours on regional markets, bouncing back from seven-week lows, before slipping. "People are not pricing in current growth but fears of next year if China's economy slows down and demand is affected," said Haissam Arabi, chief executive and fund manager at Gulfmena Investments. "Petchems are ridiculously cheap right now." Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) and Saudi Kayan Petrochemicals rose 0.3 percent each. In Kuwait, the index rose 0.4 percent, halting a three-session decline as investors tried to boost valuations ahead of the end of the third quarter. Zain ended flat, paring early-session losses that had been sparked by a court ruling that its April annual shareholders meeting was invalid. "There's not too much going on — the majority of the upside came from a few stocks, but Zain impacted the market," said a Kuwait-based trader who declined to be identified. "From now till end of month, the market will trade in an upward trend." In Qatar, banks dragged down the index 0.2 percent. Qatar National Bank slipped 0.4 percent, Commercial Bank of Qatar shed 0.9 percent and Doha Bank dropped 1.3 percent. "The main focus now is to sustain the storm and try to stay above the water, so I will not be surprised to see some selling from fund managers (who then) seek haven in safer investment vehicles," said Yassir Mckee, wealth manager at Al Rayan Financial Brokerage. Yet Qatar banks are still expected to perform well and remain among the top picks for fund managers. Abu Dhabi's index slipped 0.2 percent and Oman's benchmark closed 0.3 percent lower.
