DUBAI - Gulf markets remained sluggish on Thursday despite activity in Dubai's Emaar Properties after its local property development arm set an indicative price range for its initial public offering (IPO) while a couple of blue chips boosted Egypt.

Emaar Development set a range of 5.7 dirhams to 6.9 dirhams per share, valuing the company at between 22.8 billion and 27.6 billion dirhams ($6.21 billion-$7.52 billion).

Proceeds from the IPO, and possibly other funds, are expected to be paid to Emaar Properties shareholders as a special dividend by the end of January.

Fund managers and analysts said the price range appeared reasonable given Dubai's muted real estate market, but the dividend may have disappointed some investors who had been expecting a premium of 10-20 percent.

The Dubai stock index .DFMGI fell 0.3 percent as Emaar Properties EMAR.DU traded higher for much of the day but dipped into negative territory by the close.

Dubai's most active stock, Shuaa Capital SHUA.DU , jumped 7.4 percent in its heaviest trade since July. Some traders cited speculative buying before the announcement of third-quarter earnings early next week.

Saudi Arabia's index .TASI edged up 0.1 percent as real estate company Dar Al Arkan 4300.SE , the most active stock, sank 9.9 percent. It had risen by 33 percent since early October.

Saudi Company for Hardware 4008.SE gained 3.1 percent after posting an 8 percent rise in quarterly profit on sales up 13 percent.

But petrochemical producer Chemanol 2001.SE dropped 3.2 percent after it reported a third-quarter net loss of 9.9 million riyals ($2.7 million).

Al Ahlia Cooperative Insurance 8140.SE sank 3.5 percent despite swinging to a quarterly profit as gross written premiums grew by 23 percent.

Qatar's index .QSI edged down 0.3 percent in very thin trade as eight of the 10 most active stocks fell and only one rose. That solitary gainer was property company Ezdan Holding, ERES.QA , adding 1.6 percent.

In Egypt, the index .EGX30 advanced by 0.3 percent, supported by Global Telecom GTHE.CA and real estate developer Talaat Mostafa TMGH.CA , up 4.6 percent and 3.3 percent respectively. Talaat had reported a 72 percent leap in nine-month consolidated net profit.



HIGHLIGHTS



SAUDI ARABIA



* The index .TASI edged up 0.1 percent to 6,957 points.



DUBAI



* The index .DFMGI fell by 0.3 percent to 3,622 points.



ABU DHABI



* The index .ADI dropped 0.5 percent to 4,465 points.



QATAR



* The index .QSI slipped by 0.3 percent to 8,146 points.



EGYPT



* The index .EGX30 was up 0.3 percent at 14,325 points.



KUWAIT



* The index .KWSE rose 0.3 percent to 6,548 points.



BAHRAIN



* The index .BAX gained 0.3 percent to 1,283 points.



OMAN



* The index .MSI fell 0.2 percent to 5,040 points.

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