MIDEAST STOCKS-Kuwait banks slide as investors wait on Zain

DUBAI Nov 25 (Reuters) - Kuwaiti banks slid on Thursday as the country's index .KWSE fell for a third day in four, with investors cautious ahead of a $12 billion stake sale in telecoms operator Zain (ZAIN.KW) to Abu Dhabi's Etisalat ETEL.AD.

Other Middle East markets were lacklustre. Zain ended flat at 1.440 dinars, but National Bank of Kuwait (NBKK.KW) fell 1.5 percent and Kuwait Finance House (KFIN.KW) dropped 1.7 percent.

"In the absence of catalysts, Kuwait should remain sideways - if Zain's deal will go through, the feel-good factor should push up the market, but the deal is already pretty much priced into Zain's shares," said Shahid Hameed, Global Investment House head of asset management for the Gulf region.

"People are expecting it to be a matter of weeks, not months for the Zain sale to be completed, although investors understand that a multi billion dollar deal takes time. If there's a delay, the market will become jittery and there will be speculation and volatility until the deal is finalised."

Etisalat, which climbed 0.5 percent, has agreed to pay 1.700 dinars a share for a controlling stake in Zain [ID:nLDE6A91NG]

Egypt's benchmark index .EGX30 ended slightly lower as investors spurned buying large-cap stocks, unnerved by clashes in Cairo ahead of Sunday's parliamentary elections, traders said. [ID:nLDE6AN0G3]

Orascom Construction (OCIC.CA) eased 0.1 percent and Commercial International Bank (COMI.CA) fell 0.5 percent.

Teymour el-Derini of Naeem Brokerage said retail investors were selling shares to plough the money back into Egyptian real estate firm Amer Group's (AMER.CA) $988 million initial public offering, which closed on Thursday. [ID:nLDE6AL14H]

Dubai's index .DFMGI snapped a two-day drop, but volumes slumped to a 12-week low. Emirates NBD ENBD.DU climbed 1.6 percent, its biggest rise since Oct. 28. Emaar Properties EMAR.DU rose 0.8 percent, but Aramex ARMX.DU and Arabtec ARTC.DU fell 1 and 0.5 percent respectively.

"There's no local catalyst -- today's gains are just a follow through from what happened on U.S. markets and there's no major conviction, so we easily can turn downwards again," said Haissam Arabi, chief executive and fund manager at Gulfmena Alternative Investments. "It's just the usual suspects in our markets, with no fresh money coming in."

Qatar Gas Transport Co QGTS.QA (Nakilat) rose 2.5 percent to a 27-week high as investors rotated cash into the services sector following recent bank gains.

Doha's index .QSI climbed 0.4 percent, taking its gains to 5 percent in the past month.

"Qatar has done exceptionally well and the market might be getting ahead of itself, with people buying ahead of the World Cup vote -- if Qatar doesn't win then it will cause some negative sentiment and retailers are likely to sell off stocks," added Global's Hameed.

"Qatar's recent rally is not just about the World Cup, but the overall economy and if there's a correction it won't change what is a good story going forward."

Qatar is bidding against the United States, Australia, Japan and South Korea for the rights to host the 2022 World Cup, with FIFA delegates voting on Dec. 2. [ID:nLDE6AM1T2]

THURSDAY'S HIGHLIGHTS

KUWAIT

* The benchmark .KWSE fell 0.1 percent to 6,928 points.

QATAR

* The measure .QSI rose 0.4 percent to 8,179 points.

ABU DHABI

* The index .ADI edged up 0.04 percent to 2,757 points.

DUBAI

* The benchmark .DFMGI rose 0.5 percent to 1,682 points.

EGYPT

* The index .EGX30 eased 0.1 percent to 6,838 points.

OMAN

* The index .MSI slipped 0.2 percent to 6,551 points.

BAHRAIN

* The measure .BAX rose 0.1 percent to 1,439 points. (Additional reporting by Sherine El Madany in Cairo; editing by Firouz Sedarat)