Zain climbed 1.4 percent to 1.5 dinars, its highest finish since Sept. 6, 2009.

In a dispute playing out in rival Kuwaiti newspaper advertisements, a Kharafi firm posted an ad saying Etisalat was an international company and its offer was beyond doubt.

Abu Dhabi’s Aldar Properties climbed 2.2 percent, rising for a second day since reporting a much larger than expected third-quarter loss. The stock is down 53 percent in 2010.

Aldar faces a funding gap of 14 billion dirhams next year, EFG-Hermes estimates, while Bank of America Merrill Lynch warns the developer must find 9.8 billion dirhams by 2011.

Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. (Taqa) climbed 3.6 percent after reporting a third-quarter net profit of 218 million UAE dirhams ($146.2 million), more than double its profit in the year-earlier period.

Abu Dhabi’s benchmark climbed 0.2 percent to 2,762 points.

Saudi Arabia’s index dipped on the final day’s trading before a weeklong holiday to mark Eid Al-Adha.

Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) fell 0.2 percent, but Saudi Arabia Fertilizers Co. (Safco) added 0.2 percent.

“There was some profit-taking in high growth stocks like SABIC and Safco, but investors seem optimistic and so the market was steady,” said Hesham Tuffaha, Bakheet Investment Group head of research. “Oil is the main driver in the absence of corporate news and with crude prices up it has offset caution ahead of the Eid break.”

The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) closed down at 6,443.61 points after gaining 8.87 points; down 0.14 percent. The sector activity for the day was mostly negative with three gaining sectors against 12 losing sectors. The gaining sectors were telecommunication and information technology, multi-investment and petrochemical industries with gains of 0.07, 0.23 and 0.35 respectively. On the other hand the losing sectors for the day ranged from -0.06 by the cement sector to -1.73 percent by the hotel & tourism sector. The overall market breadth for the day was negative with 39 advancers against 86 decliners giving it an AD ratio of 0.45. The liquidity for the day reached SR3.83 billion.

Dubai’s index fell for a third day in four. Emaar Properties lost 1.3 percent, while Arabtec dropped 2.6 percent.

“I think the market is going into a range and consolidating around these levels,” said Mohammed Yasin, CAPM Investment chief investment officer. “There was nothing in the Q3 numbers to justify continuing the uptrend in the short term, but we are in a longer term uptrend channel.”

Dubai’s index fell 0.5 percent to 1,706 points.

Meanwhile, Kuwait’s stocks climbed 0.2 percent to 6,996 points while Oman’s index rose 0.2 percent to 6,579 points, however, Bahrain’s measure fell 0.5 percent to 1,447 points.