Oman's main index surged more than 7 percent and Dubai rose 3 per cent  after rate cuts by central banks in the region and elsewhere in the world.

Shares in Bank Muscat and National Bank of Oman gained 7.5 percent and 9 percent respectively, while Oman Telecommunications Co (Omantel) roses nearly 10 percent.

Oman Cables Co also surged nearly 10 percent.

"The market is up today because yesterday, towards the end of the session, we saw some institutional buying on the major stocks coming from foreign and local institutions as well as local pension funds. This has lifted sentiment" said Adel Nasr, local brokerage manager at United Securities.

"We think it's because local pension funds believe the market reached the bottom when it hit 6,500 points so they started buying at that point," Nasr said.

The Muscat benchmark gained 7.69 percent to 7,136 points.

Dubai's main index rose more than 3 percent to 3,148 points, with top gainers including Emaar Properties which gained 4.55 percent.

The company fell to a four-year low in the previous session after it said it would start its share buyback programme after releasing its third-quarter profit.

Shares in Dubai Islamic Bank and DU also gain more than 5 percent.

Abu Dhabi's main index declined 0.27 percent to 3,168 points, weighed down by bank stocks.

Shares in First Gulf Bank and Union National Bank fell 7.6 percent and 3 percent respectively. Arkan Building Materials  declined 2.7 percent.

In Bahrain, the main index gained 0.67 percent at 2,335 points. Gulf Finance House gained nearly 10 percent. - Reuters