Kuwait claimed this milestone despite most bluechips falling as investors cashed in gains. Banks led both Qatar and Oman higher and Saudi Arabia eased away from Tuesday's five-week low as a rebound on US markets overnight bolstered regional sentiment. Dubai and Egypt were the exceptions.

"There's an overhang from Dubai World's restructuring that will put a lid on UAE markets," said Ali Khan, managing director and head of brokerage at Arqaam Capital. 

Dubai's index opened brightly, but then fell to end 1.2 percent lower at 1,641 points as heavyweight Emaar Properties dropped 4.3 percent in its biggest decline for two weeks, a day before the developer is expected to release its results. The Abu Dhabi index gained 0.2 percent to 2,725 points.

Kuwait's index rose for a seventh straight session to its highest finish since Nov. 10, heightening expectations for a sustained uptrend. The index climbed 0.1 percent to 7,169 points.

"Liquidity has started to strengthen," said Ammar Hajeyah, assistant vice-president at Global Investment House.

"Institutions and fund managers have started to deploy cash based on Kuwait's macro picture after the government announced its spending plans."

Earlier this month, Kuwait said its next budget would increase by about a third as part of a development plan to reduce dependence on oil.

"Some regional funds that were underweight on Kuwait are upgrading Kuwait to neutral," added Hajeyah. "There has been a move this month away from the speculative, small caps and into the heavyweight names - investors are waiting for results to come out and they want to qualify for dividends."

In Saudi Arabia, the Tadawul All-Share Index rose 0.4 percent to 6,225.48 as Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) tracked gains in oil. There were only two negative sectors - the Banks & Financial Services and the Industrial Investment - which saw losses of 0.03 percent and 0.20 percent respectively. Otherwise, sector gains ranged from 0.20 percent in the Telecommunication & IT sector to a gain of 1.73 percent in the Real Estate Development sector. Overall market breadth was positive, with 68 advancers and 35 decliners recording an AD ratio of 1.94, the Jeddah-based Financial Transaction House (FTH) said in its daily market commentary.

The Omani index rose 0.8 percent to 6,562 points. The Qatari measure rose 0.9 percent to 6,825 points, while the Bahraini index climbed 0.3 percent to 1,519 points.

The Egypt index slipped 0.2 percent to 6,934 points.