DUBAI: Egypt's main share index hit a three-year high on Sunday after army chief General Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi gave his clearest signal yet of his interest in becoming president.

Gulf stock markets were steady as investors awaited fourth-quarter earnings announcements to determine whether recent gains were justified, with many regional benchmarks hovering around five-year highs.

Egypt’s benchmark rose 2.0 percent to 7,117 points, its highest close since January 2011.

The Egyptian stock index faces its next technical resistance at the January 2011 high of 7,248 points. Stronger resistance lies on the April 2010 peak of 7,693 points.

Property developer Talaat Moustafa and Ezz Steel each added 3.5 percent. EFG Hermes jumped 9.9 percent, surging for a second session since the investment bank announced a $144 million share buyback.

Elsewhere, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia’s TASI made small advances to reach new five-year peaks.

Qatar is the top Gulf performer in 2014, gaining 5.2 percent, while Oman has added 3.8 percent in a week. These compare with a 3.3 percent drop for MSCI's emerging equities index, which slumped to a four-month low on Thursday.

"Omani equities have underperformed during the last year as compared to the other regional markets, especially the UAE, so this is a catch-up rally," said Kanaga Sundar, Gulf Baader Capital Markets' head of research.

"Oman gives one of the highest dividend yields and valuations are pretty reasonable, while local institutions have pumped in liquidity since beginning of 2014, which is helping support market upside."

Investors are now waiting for fourth-quarter results to "show if fundamentals support the rally or not".

"After the UAE led gains last year, we could see Oman, Qatar and Saudi be the frontrunners in 2014," added Sundar. "Valuations are still reasonable compared to emerging markets. Q1 in the Gulf is historically a strong quarter as individual investors and institutions relocate funds to chase dividends."

Shares in Oman's Galfar Engineering were flat at 0.31 rials, after rocketing from 0.27 rials in the previous three trading days. The stock had been weak since October, when news emerged of a corruption probe involving some of its executives; on Sunday, two Galfar officials were sentenced in the case.

Alinma Bank ended flat to hold at a 21-month high after it posted a 35 percent increase in fourth-quarter profit. (Full Story)

Markets in the United Arab Emirates were closed on Sunday.