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DUBAI - Rising oil prices helped Middle East indexes eke out modest gains on Tuesday, though shares more exposed to foreign funds followed global markets lower, weighed down by a list of worries including North Korea.
Brent oil surged 3.8 percent overnight to settle at $59.02 a barrel after major producers said the global market was on its way to rebalancing, and crude held near that level on Tuesday.
Riyadh's index
The main stock index had dropped 1.4 percent on Monday amid rumours that index compiler FTSE might not upgrade Riyadh to emerging-market status on Sept. 29.
Although no fresh news or reports were released overnight to quash the speculation, investors bought shares that had been hit on Monday including lender Samba Financial Group
Qatar's stock index
Fund managers from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, excluding Qatar, dumped Qatari equities after four Arab states cut ties with Doha in June. It was not clear whether some GCC investors were now buying because they hoped for a resolution of the dispute.
Commodity-linked shares were some of the top performers on Tuesday, with oil and drilling service provider Gulf International Services
The Dubai index
In Abu Dhabi, Dana Gas
Rising tensions between North Korea and the United States hurt Egyptian shares which are most vulnerable to foreign fund flows; private equity company Qalaa Holdings
The main index
HIGHLIGHTS
SAUDI ARABIA
* The index
DUBAI
* The index
ABU DHABI
* The index
QATAR
* The index
EGYPT
* The index
KUWAIT
* The index
BAHRAIN
* The index
OMAN
* The index
(Editing by Andrew Heavens) ((celine.aswad@thomsonreuters.com)(+971 5 6224 7653)(Reuters Messaging: celine.aswad.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))