DUBAI: Most Gulf stock markets stood nearly still on Tuesday as oil prices seesawed and investors waited for the US Federal Reserve to indicate when it plans to start raising interest rates.

Brent crude oil hovered around $59 per barrel during the day, swinging repeatedly between gains and losses and giving no clear direction to equities.

US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen will deliver the central bank's semi-annual Monetary Policy Report to the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday and it remains unclear whether she will reaffirm June as a window for a first rate hike.

Changes in US rates will not only affect risk appetite among global investors, they are expected quickly to influence monetary policy in the Gulf countries, whose currencies are mostly pegged to the dollar.

Analysts expect the impact to be especially visible for Saudi Arabian banks, which are to a large extent funded by demand deposits bearing no interest. A hike in US rates would widen their interest margins and boost profits.

The impact of a rate hike will, however, depend on each bank's mix of deposits and loans. Al-Rajhi Bank and Bank Albilad, which according to data from Kuwait's Global brokerage and Saudi Arabia's Saudi Fransi Capital have above-average concentrations of demand deposits, were the top gainers among the Kingdom's banks on Tuesday, rising 1.2 and 3.2 percent respectively.

They were also among the main supports for the stock index, which edged up 0.7 percent.

Saudi Electricity Company jumped 3.2 percent after proposing a 2014 dividend of SR0.7 per share. It has paid the same amount for the last 10 years.

Dubai's index edged up 0.2 percent amid a mixed performance by local stocks and low trading volumes. Gulf Finance House was the most traded stock and fell 2.0 percent after surging 7.8 percent in the previous session when it announced a swing to profit in the fourth quarter.

Abu Dhabi slipped 0.2 percent as most blue chips pulled back, but telecommunications firm Etisalat edged up 0.4 percent ahead of its quarterly earnings announcement, scheduled for Wednesday.

Abu Dhabi Ship Building Co. jumped 2.7 percent after its chief executive said the firm was in discussions with other buyers to sell more warships in addition to those it is building for the United Arab Emirates Navy.

Qatar's bourse was down 0.2 percent as Qatar Fuel Co. (Woqod), a distributor of oil products, plunged 7.1 percent in the heaviest trade since last June.

The company reported 2014 net profit of 1.13 billion riyals ($310 million) versus 1.12 billion riyals in 2013, and the board recommended an annual cash dividend of 9 riyals per share, against 10 riyals and a 30 percent bonus share issue for 2013.

Telecommunications operator Ooredoo fell 0.8 percent after its subsidiary Ooredoo Kuwait reported zero fourth-quarter profit and a dividend cut. Ooredoo Kuwait fell 1.2 percent and Kuwait's index edged down 0.2 percent.

Egypt's bourse inched up 0.1 percent and blue chip lender Commercial International Bank, up 1.1 percent, was the main support. The bank this week called a shareholder meeting for March 12 to approve, among other matters, the issuance of one bonus share for each four shares outstanding.