MIDEAST STOCKS-Investment concerns drag Egypt; Dana Gas plunges on sukuk repayment miss

By Edmund Blair and Nadia Saleem

CAIRO/DUBAI, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Shares in Egypt extended losses on Wednesday on investment safety concerns after a court declared London-listed Centamin's CEY.L gold mine deal invalid, while UAE's Dana Gas DANA.AD tumbled on missing its sukuk repayment.

Cairo's index .EGX30 dropped 1.3 percent lower but is still hovering in a broad range between about 5,600 and 6,000 that has held since mid-September.

"Everyone is really worried about what is happening to investment in Egypt in general," said Ashraf Akhnoukh at CIBC brokerage. He said many investors see the Centamin news as a prompt to book profits.

Mining company Centamin said it will appeal the Egyptian court ruling that has declared invalid its rights to operate the Sukari mine, its main asset. ID:nL5E8LV5XJ

Investment bank Beltone Financial said it could win such an appeal.

"Everyone is booking profits, and everyone can book profits because they had a good rally since the start of the year," Akhnoukh says. The index is up more than 50 percent since the end of 2011.

Among the biggest fallers were real estate developer Talaat Moustafa Group TMGH.CA , down 4.6 percent, and National Societe Generale Bank NSGB.CA , sliding 3.6 percent. Orascom Telecom

ORTE.CA fell 2.7 percent.

In the UAE, Dana Gas DANA.AD shares plunged 8.9 percent to their lowest close since Sept. 18 on repayment concerns over its $920 million Islamic bond which matured on Wednesday.

The firm said on Wednesday it has been in talks with creditors to reach a "consensual solution." ID:nL5E8LV0LD

Shares in Dana Gas fell sharply on Tuesday after sources told Reuters the energy firm reached a standstill with bondholders. The stock fell 8.5 percent intraday on Tuesday before closing down 4.3 percent. ID:nL5E8LU48Y

"Dana had relatively high trading volumes today, all at the lower limit, hinting that there is good interest at these levels," said Sleiman Aboulhosn, assistant fund manager at Al Masah Capital. "We will continue to watch Dana for any positive developments on the receivables front, but in the meantime we expect the stock to remain under selling pressure."

Abu Dhabi's index .ADI ticked up 0.03 percent to a 15-month closing high.

Dubai's measure .DFMGI slipped 0.2 percent as investors sold heavyweights.

Emaar Properties EMAR.DU and Emirates NBD ENBD.DU shed 1.1 and 0.7 percent respectively.

Union Properties UPRO.DU rose 2.2 percent after the developer posted a profit of 50 million dirhams ($13.6 million)

in the third quarter, swinging from a loss in the year-earlier period. ID:nL5E8LV0IF

District cooling firm Tabreed TABR.DU , part-owned by Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala, reported a 35-percent rise in quarterly net profit on Wednesday. ID:nL5E8LV0DI

Its shares closed 2.4 percent lower, trimming year-to-date gains to 150 percent.

Elsewhere, Qatar's bourse rose to a two-week high with heavyweights supporting, but trading volumes remained muted in a post-holiday lull.

Industries Qatar IQCD.QA gained 2 percent, the main support to the market. The stock closed at a 21-month high.

"Most of the buying came from foreign institutional investors... a bounce in oil prices is usually good for such a name," said a Doha-based trader who asked not to be identified.

Brent crude rose to above $109.50 a barrel on Wednesday, supported by a weaker dollar, as the U.S. East Coast began to pick itself up after storm Sandy. O/R

The index .QSI ended 0.3 percent higher at its highest close since Oct. 16.

In Kuwait, the bourse recovered early-session losses to close near-flat as investors picked up stocks last minute, a move typically seen on the last trading day of the month to boost portfolios.

The benchmark .KWSE however has dropped 3.6 percent for the month amid escalated political tension.

The market tumbled last week to a two-month low after tens of thousands of people demonstrated against changes to the electoral law.

Kuwaiti authorities arrested an opposition leader late on Monday following comments viewed as critical of the country's ruler, a local political activist said. ID:L5E8LU0QT

WEDNESDAY'S HIGHLIGHTS

EGYPT

* The benchmark .EGX30 fell 1.3 percent to 5,696 points.

ABU DHABI

* The index .ADI ticked up 0.03 percent to 2,672 points.

DUBAI

* The measure .DFMGI slipped 0.2 percent to 1,620 points.

QATAR

* The measure .QSI gained 0.3 percent to 8,546 points.

KUWAIT

* The benchmark .KWSE eased 0.05 percent to 5,767 points.

BAHRAIN