Except for Bahrain, the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council's stock markets closed on Wednesday on a positive note. A rather volatile day indicated that investors were undecided whether or not to continue with the rally but eventually saw a 0.29 percent increase of the Tadawul index, closing at 6,048.87 points. While market bellwether Sabic lost 0.35 percent, shares of the agriculture and food industry gained, with the underlying index adding 4.24 percent. Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi's index claimed its largest one-day rise for 10 weeks, climbing 3.1 percent to 2,810 points. In Dubai, the index rose 1.5 percent to 1,989 points, its highest close since Dec. 1. In Qatar, the benchmark climbed 1.7 percent to 7,376 points. In Kuwait the index advanced 0.4 percent to 8,371 points, its 10 straight gain. In Oman, the benchmark rose 2.2 percent to 5,687 points, a 21-week closing high. Volumes hit a three-week high. In Bahrain, the measure fell 0.6 percent to 1,626 points. Brokers said regional investors are switching liquidity between Gulf markets as they try to ride each uptrend and volumes on Abu Dhabi's index were their highest for more than 11 months. “A lot of investors are saying the banking sector will make the next major move upward,” a trader said.
