Gulf stocks on Wednesday continued a rally in global equity markets to consolidate gains made the previous day, with all benchmark indexes ending higher. Markets in the region took their cue from a huge day on Wall Street on Tuesday in which the three major indexes - Down Jones Industrial Average, Nasdaq and S&P - piled on more than 3 percent each. Asian and European markets also made massive gains overnight with the Nikkei and Hang Seng jumping 4.2 percent and 3.2 percent respectively and the FTSE rising 0.6 percent. Saudi Arabia, the largest market in the region by capitalization, scored its biggest single-day gain in over a month, shooting up 2.65 percent to close on 9,367.52 points. Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) led the way with a huge 5.55 percent gain, its largest in a single-day for six weeks. SAB Bank also finished the day higher, recouping some of its recent losses to close up 2.36 percent. News was positive too in the UAE where Abu Dhabi was helped to its largest one-day gain in over a month, boosted by telecom Etisalat and Sorouh Real Estate. The two companies jumped 2.05 percent and 4.97 percent to lift the index 1.73 percent to 4,693.84 points. Dubai rounded out off solid day in the Emirates with a 0.45 percent gain. The benchmark index was helped by strong performances from Emaar Properties and Dubai Islamic Bank, which rose 0.89 percent and 2.96 percent respectively. The index finished on 5,458.11 points. Kuwaiti telecom Zain gained 5.49 percent while National Industries Group kicked in another 2.3 percent to push Kuwait's index higher. The benchmark edged closer to the record it set last month when the country's emir dissolved parliament, closing up 0.31 percent on 14,458.5 points. Markets in Doha rallied on the back of strength in the banking sector with Qatar National Bank and Commercial Bank of Qatar finishing higher by 1.19 percent and 0.2 percent respectively. Qatar's benchmark index crept up 0.35 percent for the day, ending on 9,677.43 points. Oman clinched a 0.89 percent gain on the back of strong performances for Oman International Bank and Renaissance Services, which rose 3.83 percent and 5.26 percent respectively. The benchmark closed on 10,275.85 points. Bahrain topped off a stellar day for the markets with Ithmaar Bank helping the index to a higher close, finishing on 2,805.67 points. __
