JEDDAH: Gulf stock markets were narrowly mixed on Monday as oil prices moved very little and bourses were shut for public holidays in the US and much of Europe.

Brent oil inched up early on Monday on strong Asian and US demand but then slipped toward $65 a barrel as the USdollar strengthened.

Saudi Arabia’s index inched down 0.1 percent and National Industrialization Co. (Tasnee) was the main drag, dropping 2.3 percent after its chief executive told Saudi Arabia’s Al-Riyadh newspaper that its petrochemicals business faced increased competition from Chinese producers while the titanium business suffered from lower prices.

Oil shipper Bahri pulled back 2.6 percent after surging 16 percent between May 13 and 24 on news that freight rates from the Gulf to Japan had hit their 2015 highs and that the firm had ordered five new crude tankers.

But Saudi Arabian Mining Co. (Maaden) 1211.SE jumped 2.7 percent to 45.00 riyals after Al-Rajhi Capital raised the stock’s target price to 52.00 riyals from 41.00 riyals, citing its growing output and an improving business outlook.

Maaden said this month that its massive smelter run jointly with US group Alcoa, which had experienced several technical glitches on start-up, would produce above its initial capacity target this year.

Dubai’s index edged up 0.4 percent as most stocks rose. Builder Arabtec jumped 2.2 percent after Egypt’s government said a deal under which the company would build 1 million housing units in the country was still in the works, contrary to media reports on Sunday which had sent the stock down.

Emaar Malls, up 1.9 percent, continued to climb ahead of its inclusion in MSCI’s emerging markets index at the end of this month.

Abu Dhabi’s bourse .ADI added 0.3 percent on the back of telecommmunications firm Etisalat, which rose 0.4 percent.

Qatar’s benchmark edged down 0.4 percent as Ezdan Holding fell 1.0 percent on profit-taking after a strong rally prompted by its inclusion in MSCI’s benchmark.

Egypt’s index fell 0.8 percent to 9,051 points after gaining 3.4 percent in the two previous sessions. But the benchmark was well above technical support at 8,860 points, its early May peak, which it surpassed this week.

Most stocks fell and Telecom Egypt, which is likely to suffer from an exodus of passive investors at the end of this month due to its exclusion from MSCI’s emerging markets index, was down 0.6 percent.