"I think you'll see OT continue to rise in the coming weeks, said Hashem Ghoneim of Pyramids Capital, adding he expected the stock to rise to around 7 Egyptian pounds ($1.24).
After its biggest rise since January 31, OT closed at 6.06 pounds, its highest close in more than two weeks, helping lead Egypt's index 2.8 percent higher to 6,517 points.
Qatar was the biggest gainer in the Gulf, led by Industries Qatar. Other regional bourses were mixed after most started the day higher, playing catch up with Saudi Arabia's strong performance on Saturday.
Industries Qatar climbed 4.7 percent after its rival Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) surged 10 percent on Saturday, leading the Kingdom's bourse to its biggest one-day gain since November 2008. The Qatari index rose 2.1 percent to 6,826 points.
"We are following what happened yesterday (Saturday) in the Saudi market," said Samer Al-Jaouni, general manager of Middle East Financial Brokerage Co.
"The Qatar market has strong fundamentals and a better outlook economically speaking."
Banks and property stocks boosted bourses in the United Arab Emirates in early trading but both Dubai and Abu Dhabi reversed lower after Saudi Arabia's benchmark declined on profit-taking soon after opening.
"The bulk of yesterday's (Saturday’s) gains were driven by the 8.7 percent rally in the petrochemical sector, indicating that much of the move was driven by the bounce in oil prices," said Adel Merheb at Shuaa Capital, adding that the index remained in correction mode.
The Dubai stock index declined 0.3 percent to 1,601 points.
The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) ended 1.4 percent lower at 6,087.28 points. The sector activity for the day was negatively biased with only 2 sectors closing with gains and the remaining sectors closing with losses. The gaining sectors for the day were namely Retail and the Hotel Tourism sectors with gains of 1.30 percent and 0.46 percent respectively. The losing sectors on the other hand ranged from 0.26 percent by the Energy & Utilities sector to 2.31 percent by the Media and Publishing sector. The overall market breadth for the day remained negative with only 16 advancers against 114 decliners giving it an AD ratio of 0.14, the Financial Transaction House (FTH) said in its daily market commentary.
Abu Dhabi's First Gulf Bank and National Bank of Abu Dhabi led declines on the emirate's bourse, falling 4.2 percent and 2.8 percent respectively.
"Both of these stocks have held up relatively well year-to-date," said Ali Khan, managing director and head of brokerage at Arqaam Capital.
"We are just seeing some lightening of positions on relatively low volumes."
Shares of Tabreed fell 4 percent after the air conditioning company said on Thursday it was in talks with banks to restructure $1.47 billion in debt and aimed to raise $1.14 billion in new capital.
In Kuwait, shares of Zain were halted until the telecom firm completes the distribution of its 2009 cash dividend. On Thursday, Zain's shareholders approved a cash dividend of 170 fils per share which excludes distribution from the sale of some of Zain's African units to Bharti. The Kuwaiti index edged 0.1 percent higher to 6,814 points.
Oman climbed for a second trading day led by Al Jazeira Services. Muscat's main measure advanced 0.2 percent to 6,317 points.
"Volumes continue to be very light and investors are cautiously holding cash," said Osama Ibrahim Al-Qinna, head of brokerage division at Oman Arab Bank, adding that the bank remained cautious due to weakness in the Saudi market.
— With input from agencies
