0535 GMT - Gulf Arab stocks are expected to be muted in
early trade on Sunday, with investors waiting to see if the
later-opening Saudi Arabia bourse will hold onto the
previous day's gains before committing cash to other markets.
Saudi's index rose 0.8 percent on Saturday, ending a
10-session losing streak as oil price gains drew buyers back to
petrochemical stocks, although it is too early to say whether
the kingdom's bourse has bottomed out, says Sebastien Henin,
portfolio manager at The National Investor.
That means investors in the United Arab Emirates will have
one eye on the Saudi bourse open at 0800 GMT - two hours after
trading in the UAE starts - and if this is positive it could
draw in more buyers to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Henin says.
"It could be a quiet session and I don't expect a lot of
volatility," says Henin. "The news flow is very poor - it's very
quiet."
World stocks rose on Friday on signs of progress in talks on
releasing aid to Greece, which should boost regional sentiment,
says Marwan Shurrab, vice-president and chief trader at Gulfmena
Alternative Investments, although political turmoil closer to
home could have a more telling influence.
"We're still not seeing the resolution of political issues
such as in Egypt and Syria and that will push investors away
from risk at the current time," adds Shurrab.
Property-related stocks in the UAE could be a target for
speculative trade after Dubai's ruler announced plans for a huge
retail and tourist development in the city that appeared to
include re-starting projects that were halted following a
property price crash.
(Reporting by Matt Smith,; Editing by Praveen Menon)