DUBAI, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Gulf stock markets were mixed on Monday as most reopened after the New Year, with Oman falling after the release of an austere state budget for 2017. Egypt edged down although foreign investors remained net buyers of stocks.
Dubai's index
.DFMGI
rose 0.2 percent as much activity focused on speculative stocks with prices below 1 dirham. Islamic Arab Insurance
SALAMA.DU
, the most heavily traded stock, rocketed 15 percent in its largest volume since April.
Abu Dhabi
.ADI
fell 0.3 percent, partly due to a 7.6 percent slide in Abu Dhabi National Energy
TAQA.AD
.
Qatar
.QSI
edged down 0.1 percent. Islamic bank Masraf Al Rayan
MARK.QA
dropped that much after saying it would suspend its brokerage business, Al Rayan Financial Brokerage Co. It said the brokerage's paid-up capital represented just 0.06 percent of the bank's total assets.
Saudi Arabia's index
.TASI
ended 0.1 percent higher but 0.7 percent off its intra-day peak, with petrochemicals
.TPISI
lagging slightly. Travel agency Al Tayyar
1810.SE
, which had climbed 7.4 percent on Sunday in unusually heavy trade, fell back 1.3 percent.
Oman
.MSI
dropped 0.8 percent after the government released a 2017 budget plan on Sunday that projected a smaller deficit but included fresh austerity steps and tight curbs on spending because of low oil prices.
Oman Telecommunications
OTL.OM
lost 2.1 percent after tumbling 4.3 percent on Sunday in response to an increase in the royalty that it must pay the government. Rival Ooredoo Oman
ORDS.OM
fell 2.0 percent after plunging 7.9 percent on Sunday.
Bahrain listed its first sharia-compliant retail real estate investment trust, Eskan Bank Realty Income Trust
EBRIT.BH
. The REIT rose 7 percent in very thin trade.
In Egypt, the index
.EGX30
pulled back 0.4 percent but exchange data showed non-Arab foreign investors remained net buyers of stocks by a small margin, continuing a streak that began with the floating of the Egyptian pound on Nov. 3.
Investment firm Qalaa Holdings
CCAP.CA
was the most heavily traded stock, shooting up 9.7 percent to 1.13 pounds in its largest daily volume since it listed in late 2009.
The stock has been in a downtrend for several years from a peak of 5.45 pounds in 2014, but it may now be reversing that trend. Its surge in the past two days triggered a reverse head & shoulders pattern formed by the highs and lows since June and pointing up to around 1.40 pounds.
MONDAY'S HIGHLIGHTS
SAUDI ARABIA
* The index
.TASI
edged up 0.1 percent to 7,247 points.
DUBAI
* The index
.DFMGI
rose 0.2 percent to 3,539 points.
ABU DHABI
* The index
.ADI
fell 0.3 percent to 4,534 points.
QATAR
* The index
.QSI
edged down 0.1 percent to 10,429 points.
EGYPT
* The index
.EGX30
fell 0.4 percent to 12,291 points.
KUWAIT
* The index
.KSWE
added 0.5 percent to 5,775 points.
OMAN
* The index
.MSI
dropped 0.8 percent to 5,700 points.
BAHRAIN
* The index
.BAX
edged down 0.1 percent to 1,220 points. (editing by David Stamp) ((andrew.torchia@thomsonreuters.com)(+9715 6681 7277)(Reuters Messaging: andrew.torchia.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))