Stock markets in the Middle East appeared to be stabilising in early trade on Monday after falling sharply in the previous session in a broad sell-off.

Bourses in the region posted their biggest losses in years on Sunday as global markets' decline at the end of last week served as a trigger for aggressive profit-taking.

But markets started rebounding on Monday and Saudi Arabia's main index added 1.1 per cent shortly after opening as most shares rose, while Qatar's benchmark was nearly flat.

Shares in Qatar Electricity and Water Company rose 0.5 per cent after it reported a 8.8 per cent increase in third-quarter net profit on Monday, beating analyst estimates.

Dubai's index, which dropped as much as 2.7 per cent early in the session, cut its loss to 0.2 per cent. Abu Dhabi rebounded and was up 0.3 per cent.

Egypt's index, however, continued to decline and slid 1.1 per cent minutes after opening. - Reuters