Egypt's bourse seen volatile; Dubai's Emaar in focus

Egypt's bourse is likely to be volatile on Monday after the main opposition coalition rejected Islamist President Mohamed Mursi's plan for a constitutional referendum this week.

The opposition said the constitution risked dragging the country into "violent confrontation".

Mursi's decision on Saturday to retract a decree awarding himself wide powers failed to placate opponents who accused him of plunging Egypt deeper into crisis by refusing to postpone the vote on a constitution shaped by Islamists.

Cairo's benchmark made its biggest one-day gain in five months after the decree was revoked.

"We are moving into a political deadlock, which is usually very risky but we will have to reach common ground soon," says Osama Mourad, CEO of Arab Finance Brokerage. "The streets of Egypt are full of revolutionaries." The market will continue to suffer from the political risk in the run up to the constitution vote, he adds.

Elsewhere, shares in Dubai's Emaar Properties are likely to gain after the firm the first project in a planned multi-billion dollar flagship development on Sunday - a complex of luxury residences and a golf course.

Dubai Hills will be part of the Mohammed Bin Rashid (MBR) City, the mega tourism and retail development project announced by the emirate in November, Emaar and Dubai Holding said in a joint statement.

In Kuwait, Jazeera Airways will offer 178m shares in a capital increase starting on Monday.

The shares will be priced at 100 Kuwaiti fils (US$0.36) each with no premium and the closing date for offers is December 31.

Elsewhere, Asian shares clambered to a 16-month high on Monday as investors took heart from economic data from China and the United States that raised hopes about the outlook for growth in the world's top two economies.