Egypt, Saudi rise; Gulf ends lower

The Egyptian and Saudi bourses bounced back yesterday, helped by an early rise in oil prices and a late-day turnaround in world stocks on hopes that Europe was tackling Greece’s debt woes. Egypt’s benchmark gained 1.7%, to end at its highest close in a week.

In Saudi Arabia, insurance stocks led gains, lifting the kingdom’s index from Sunday’s 11-day low, up 0.3%.
In Kuwait, the index rose 0.4%.

Elsewhere, Abu Dhabi’s index slipped 0.2%; Dubai’s index ends flat at 1,447 points; Oman’s benchmark closed 0.3% lower and Bahrain’s measure slipped 0.1% to 1,221 points.