* Emaar Misr moves little from IPO price

* Cairo index enters important technical support area

* Almarai strong in Saudi after Q2 earnings

* Drake & Scull surge on after easing ownership curb

* Dana Gas soars after reports on Kurdistan ruling

By Andrew Torchia

DUBAI, July 5 (Reuters) - Egypt's stock market maintained its downtrend on Sunday as a weak debut by Emaar Misr, the biggest listing since 2007, further hurt sentiment. Gulf bourses were mixed as the Greek debt crisis kept trading volumes modest.

The Egyptian index rose slightly in early trade but closed 1.2 percent lower at 8,218 points, entering a band of strong technical support between 8,125 and 8,261 points, the December and May lows.

Any break of this support would be very bearish, triggering a triangle pointing down into the 6,800-point area in the longer term.

A purchasing managers' survey showed business activity in Egypt's non-oil private sector grew slightly in June, ending five months of contraction.

But other concerns that have weighed heavily on the market in the past month - foreign exchange and energy shortages, militants in the Sinai and the central bank's decision to let the Egyptian pound depreciate gradually - continued to fuel selling.

Emaar Misr, the Egyptian unit of Emaar Properties, was the most heavily traded stock. Its volume weighted average price was 3.94 Egyptian pounds and its last trade was 3.75 pounds, against its initial public offer price of 3.80 pounds.

The IPO had been heavily oversubscribed, and the IPO price was well below fair value estimates of 4.73 pounds by MubasherTrade and Grant Thornton's 4.70 pounds. Investors' keenness to take profits, and the failure of much of the money tied up in unfilled IPO subscriptions to return to the market so far, signalled local investors' gloom.

Ezz Steel tumbled 5.6 percent and real estate developer Palm Hills Development sank 4.9 percent.

SAUDI, DUBAI

In the Gulf, Saudi Arabia's market edged up 0.3 percent despite a purchasing managers' survey showing growth in Saudi Arabia's non-oil private sector slowed in June to its lowest level since the survey was launched in August 2009.

Alinma Bank, the most heavily traded stock, added 1.6 percent.

Saudi Basic Industries climbed 1.4 percent despite weak oil prices when it announced a joint venture with South Korea's SK Global Chemical Co to produce polyethylene products.

Almarai, the Gulf's largest dairy company, gained 2.1 percent after reporting a 22.4 percent increase in second-quarter net profit.

But Riyad Bank edged down 0.4 percent after saying it was recommending a dividend of 35 halalas per share for the first half of 2015, slightly lower than 38 halalas for the first half of 2014.

Dubai's market slipped 0.5 percent as Emaar dropped 0.6 percent. But construction firm Drake & Scull jumped 9.1 percent; it has been strong since it raised the limit for ownership by Gulf Cooperation Council nationals of its shares to 100 percent from 49 percent last Thursday.

Abu Dhabi's index edged up 0.2 percent as Dana Gas soared 13.7 percent after saying it had obtained a favourable ruling from a London arbitration tribunal in its dispute with Kurdistan authorities over $1.94 billion of overdue receivables.

SUNDAY'S HIGHLIGHTS

SAUDI ARABIA

* The index edged up 0.3 percent to 9,161 points.

DUBAI

* The index fell 0.5 percent to 4,069 points.

ABU DHABI

* The index edged up 0.2 percent to 4,738 points.

QATAR

* The index dropped 0.9 percent to 12,008 points.

EGYPT

The index fell 1.2 percent to 8,218 points.

KUWAIT

* The index edged up 0.1 percent to 6,190 points.

OMAN

* The index slipped 0.2 percent to 6,434 points.

BAHRAIN

* The index edged down 0.1 percent to 1,349 points.

(Additional reporting by Nadia Saleem; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)