DUBAI, July 27 (Reuters) - Egypt's stock market looks set to rise on Wednesday on news that Cairo is near agreeing an International Monetary Fund lending programme, while soft oil prices - Brent crude is below $45 a barrel - and mixed Saudi corporate earnings may keep the Gulf quiet.

Late on Tuesday, the Egyptian government said it was seeking to secure $7 billion annually over three years; Prime Minister Sherif Ismail ordered the central bank governor and minister of finance to complete negotiations for the programme with an IMF team that will visit Egypt in the next few days.

An IMF deal, and the attached economic policy conditions, could help to revive foreign investor confidence in Egypt and allow it to remove some of the curbs on access to hard currency that have plagued the economy.

On the other hand, many analysts think another currency devaluation remains inevitable, while the IMF programme could involve fiscal tightening that would prevent any quick recovery in economic growth.

Also, $21 billion over three years might not be enough by itself to restore Egypt's balance of payments to health, especially if donors in the Gulf decide to cut back their aid in response to their own budget pressures. So for now, any rally in the stock market may be cautious and short.

In Saudi Arabia, the latest second-quarter corporate earnings have not been uniformly positive. Saudi Telecom missed estimates as it reported a 27.1 percent fall in profit to 1.87 billion riyals ($499 million); analysts polled by Reuters had on average forecast 2.37 billion riyals.

National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) reported a 47.2 percent leap in profit to 504.18 million riyals; Alistithmar Capital had forecast 308.4 million riyals.

But low-cost retailer Abdullah Al Othaim reported a 9.6 percent drop in quarterly profit, citing higher personnel and promotional expenses as well as rises in transport and electricity costs due to austerity measures in the 2016 state budget.

Meanwhile, the board of National Commercial Bank recommended paying a cash dividend of 0.60 riyal per share for the first half of 2016, down from 0.80 riyal a year earlier.

(Reporting by Andrew Torchia) ((andrew.torchia@thomsonreuters.com)(+9715 6681 7277)(Reuters Messaging: andrew.torchia.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))