Gulf stocks jumped the most in five months on Monday after a rescue package worth $1 trillion was hammered out by European Union finance ministers, central bankers and the International Monetary Fund in weekend negotiations. “Positive sentiment is driving the market up,” said a senior investment manager said. Gains in Gulf markets are “almost entirely” related to the loan package in Europe, he said. Saudi Arabia's Tadawul All Share Index rose 1.3 percent, Bahrain's gauge advanced 1.2 percent and Oman's MSM30 Index added 0.5 percent. Tadawul's all sectoral indices were back in the black, with the insurance sector clocking in the biggest daily gain at 3.11 percent. Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) led Saudi Arabia's index higher as resurgent oil prices boosted demand for the petrochemical producer's shares. SABIC climbed 2.2 percent. Rising oil prices boost petrochemical product prices, while SABIC is also seen as a proxy for improving world trade, so last week's Greek-driven turmoil weighed on the stock. With the worst of the debt crisis seen as over, investors are buying back into SABIC. Dubai's index climbed 1.6 percent to 1,741 points, after falling 1.2 percent on Sunday. Abu Dhabi's index also prospered, rising 1.6 percent to 2,795 points as property and investment companies surge. Global equity markets followed suit. US stocks rebounded strongly, with the blue-chip Dow index closing up nearly four percent, after a massive rescue package for the euro zone eased investors' fears of a sovereign debt crisis. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 404.71 points (3.90 percent) to 10,785.14 in final trades following a turbulent week for Wall Street that saw the index plummet almost 1,000 points briefly on Thursday. The tech-studded Nasdaq composite shot up 109.03 points (4.81 percent) to 2,374.67, while the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 48.84 points (4.40 percent) to a provisional close of 1,159.72. Britain's FTSE 100 closed at 5,387.42 points, up 264.4 or 5.16 percent. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares surged 7.4 percent to close at 1,038.91 points - the index's biggest one-day percentage gain since November 24, 2008. Frankfurt's DAX index ended at 6,017.91 points, up 302.82 or 5.30 percent. Paris CAC-40 index closed at 3,720.29 points, up 327.7 or 9.66 percent. Zurich' Swiss market index closed at 6,481.95 points, up 276.32 or 4.45 percent. Milan's The FT IT All Share index closed at 21,547.32 points, up 2046.57 or 10.49 percent. Tokyo's Nikkei average rose 1.6 percent to 10,530.70. Gold prices and the dollar fell on Monday as investors jumped back into riskier assets like stocks. Gold futures for June delivery fell $9.60 to settle at $1200.80 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. After rising to almost $1.31 overnight, the euro drifted back to $1.2804 in late New York trading, dropping as low as $1.2764. Late Friday, the euro was worth $1.2731. Gold had been down $16 at the market open. – By Querubin J. Mi?as/with agency input __
