MIDEAST STOCKS-Gulf markets little changed; Egypt unworried by U.S. aid cut | Reuters

MIDEAST STOCKS-Gulf markets little changed; Egypt unworried by U.S. aid cut | Reuters:

"* Turnover modest as long Eid holidays approach

* Saudi Fransi, Almarai sink after earnings

* Bank Muscat fails to rise on strong profit

* Sembcorp Salalah falls back on second day of trade

* Egypt rises despite expected U.S. military aid cut

By Andrew Torchia

DUBAI, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Gulf stock markets mostly edged up on Wednesday but stayed in small ranges with modest turnover as the crisis over the U.S. debt ceiling made it more risky to hold shares over the week-long Eid holidays that will start on Sunday.

Some mediocre third-quarter earnings also deterred buying. For example, Banque Saudi Fransi posted a 3.5 percent rise in net profit to 685 million riyals ($182.7 million), but missed analysts' average forecast of 758.2 million riyals. The stock dropped 2.5 percent.

Saudi Arabian dairy producer Almarai, which dropped 1.9 percent on Tuesday after its profit missed analysts' forecasts by a small margin, fell a further 1.9 percent to 52.00 riyals on Wednesday. That brought it near technical support at 51.67 riyals, the August low."

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