Builder Arabtec lifted Dubai stock market in early trade on Monday after Egypt government said that the firm’s giant project there was still being discussed. Other Gulf bourses were mostly neutral in line with oil prices and global equities.

Arabtec jumped 2.2 per cent after the Cairo Cabinet said a deal under which the company would build one million housing units in the country was still in the works, contrary to media reports on Sunday which had sent the stock down.

Dubai’s index climbed 0.3 per cent as most other stocks also rose.

Abu Dhabi’s bourse added 0.7 per cent on the back of telecommmunications firm Etisalat, which rose 1.3 per cent.

Qatar’s benchmark was flat but Ezdan Holding added 0.7 per cent ahead of its inclusion in MSCI’s emerging markets index at the end of this month.

Indexes in Kuwait and Oman were also unchanged as oil prices and Asian stocks barely moved.

Crude oil futures held steady amid low trading volumes on Monday, although healthy Asian appetite and demand from the US driving season could provide some upside.

Many markets around the world, including the United States, are closed for public holidays on Monday.

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