JEDDAH/DUBAI: Middle East markets rebounded on Monday after a steady opening in Asia soothed nerves, with most Gulf indexes clawing back after a sell-off in the previous day inspired by Obama’s bank plan.

Dubai was the standout performer, climbing 2.8 percent to 1,614 points in its biggest gain for three weeks, while the six other Gulf Arab benchmarks added less than a percent. Egypt’s bourse was closed for a holiday. The Abu Dhabi index climbed 0.3 percent to 2,608 points, rebounding from a six-week intraday low.

In the short-term, most analysts remain cautious, forecasting more range-bound trading on regional bourses, while Dubai Holding’s spat with Standard & Poors will do little to boost confidence in UAE stocks.

“It’s hard to see what positive catalysts might be out there,” said Robert McKinnon, ASAS Capital chief investment officer. “So I think markets will move sideways to down over the next three months at least. I don’t see positive catalysts coming from earnings or from global markets.”

DP World, part of debt-laden Dubai World, rose 3.9 percent after the ports operator issued a trading update and said it would list on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in the second-quarter of this year.

In Saudi, chemical company Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) rose 0.6 percent, lifting the Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) by 0.22 percent to 6.315.76 points. The sector losses ranged from 0.08 percent in the Banking & Financial Services sector to 0.58 percent in the Insurance sector. On the other hand, the other 10-sector gains ranged from 0.18 percent in the Retail to 2.46 percent in the Transport sector. Overall market breadth was positive, with 60 advancers and 41 decliners registering an AD ratio of 1.46, the Jeddah-based Financial Transaction House (FTH) said in its daily market commentary.

The stock market turnover was over SR3.15 billion on Monday.

Meanwhile, the Capital Market Authority CMA) announced on Sunday that the listing and trading of second issue of the Saudi Hollandi Bank sukuk will take place on Tuesday.

The Kuwaiti index rose 0.9 percent to 7,084 points, its highest close since Dec. 27 and biggest gain for three weeks.

The measure in Qatar climbed 0.7 percent to 6,710 points, while Bahrain’s index rose 0.2 percent to 1,474 points.

— With input from agencies