MIDEAST STOCKS-Gulf shares fall; Aramco closes lower

    * All financial shares drop in Qatar
    * Aramco ends lower at 35.4 riyals
    * Dana Gas rises on one-off dividend pay
    * 25 of thirty Egyptian stocks slide

    By Ateeq Shariff
    Dec 24 (Reuters) - Gulf stocks mostly fell on Tuesday, with
financials pulling down Qatar, while Saudi Arabia's stock index
traded flat as energy and property shares moved sideways. 
    The Qatari index declined 0.8% with all its financial
stocks retreating. Qatar National Bank, the Gulf's
largest lender, dropped 1.6% and Qatar Islamic Bank
eased 1.2%.
    Saudi Arabia's benchmark index was little changed.
Samba Financial Group shed 2.2% and Saudi Aramco
 ended 0.6% lower. Dar Al Arkan gained 1.5%
and Makkah Construction was up 1.7%. 
    Saudi Industrial Services rose 2.8% after its Red
Sea Gateway Terminal unit signed a new 30-year concession with
the Saudi ports authority to develop the northern part of Jeddah
port.
    The Dubai index slipped 0.2% as Mashreq Bank
 plunged 7.8% and Air Arabia fell 1.3%.
    Emaar Properties was flat. The developer said that
it was considering raising capital against cash flows generated
by the observation decks on its Burj Khalifa skyscraper, but was
not looking at selling them.
    In Abu Dhabi, the index lost 0.6%. First Abu Dhabi
Bank fell 1% and National Bank of Umm Al Qaiwain
 dropped 9.5%>. 
     The head of global markets at First Abu Dhabi Bank has
resigned, Reuters reported on Monday, citing two sources.
    Dana Gas gained 0.7% after getting a one-off $42
million dividend payment from Pearl Petroleum in Iraq's
Kurdistan region.
    Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index traded
0.7% lower with 25 of its 30 stocks in the red. Commercial
International bank was down 0.6% and El Sewedy
Electric down 2%.
    
        
 SAUDI ARABIA          was flat at 8,420 points
 ABU DHABI            lost 0.6% to 5,083 points
 DUBAI                  edged down 0.2% to 2,777 points
 QATAR                dropped 0.8% to 10,430 points
 EGYPT                  down 0.7% to 13,805 points
 BAHRAIN              inched up 0.1% to 1,600 points
 OMAN                 traded flat 3,899 points
 KUWAIT               was also flat at 6,978 points
 
 (Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru, editing by Larry
King)