Gulf markets defy Egypt protests | beyondbrics – FT.com

With Egypt’s stock exchange closed, investors are looking to other bourses in the Middle East to gauge the impact of Cairo’s protests on regional business. The news on Monday was encouraging: Persian Gulf markets rebounded sharply from last week’s falls, with Abu Dhabi stocks gaining the most in three months.

“Markets in the Gulf Cooperation Council are seeing a strong rebound as smart money is picking up names that are unaffected by the geopolitics of North Africa,”said Omair Ansari, equity strategist at Gulfmena Alternative Investments. “Earnings for the majority of the companies in the GCC are insulated to within the region, thus yesterday’s selloff was unjustified.”

The United Arab Emirates’ ADX General Index rose 1.3 per cent to 2,594.29, its biggest increase since mid-October. It suffered its largest fall since November 2009 in Sunday’s session.