DUBAI: Strong trading volumes helped lift major stock markets in the Middle East on Monday as investors were encouraged by the recovery in oil prices and firmer global bourses.

The Tadawul All-Share Index gained 1.7 percent, lifted by the petrochemical sector, which jumped 3.5 percent. Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), the largest listed petrochemical producer, rose 3.9 percent. Brent oil futures were trading above $34 a barrel when the bourse closed.

Most small and mid-cap stocks in the insurance sector climbed as local traders accumulated shares. Insurers SABB Takaful and AlAhli Takaful surged 9.6 and 4.0 percent respectively.

Home appliance manufacturer Shaker Group closed flat after falling as much as 2.6 percent early in the session after the company announced on Monday it would not distribute dividends for 2015 to support future growth. Analysts at NCB Capital had estimated the company would distribute SR1.5 per share; last year the cash distribution was SR1.4.

United Electronics was also flat after the electronics retailer said it would suspend cash dividend distributions for the fourth quarter of 2015 to finance its expansion plans. The company paid SR1 per share in the first half of 2015.

Dubai' benchmark jumped 2.5 percent in the heaviest volume since June 2015. Trading activity picked up late in the session as local traders bought their preferred stocks, cutting the index's 2016 losses to 1.8 percent.

Builders Drake & Scull and Arabtec, the two most traded stocks, added 7.4 and 1.7 percent respectively. Last week Drake & Scull posted a jump in fourth-quarter profit, while on Monday Arabtec reported a fourth-quarter loss which widened from a year earlier but narrowed from the previous quarter.

Abu Dhabi's index rebounded 2.1 percent, trimming its loss in 2016 to 0.2 percent. The market was lifted by the real estate sector with developers Eshraq Properties and RAK Properties each advancing more than 3.0 percent in heavy trade.

In Doha the exchange was nearly flat, recouping earlier losses in its heaviest traded volume of 2016. Oil drilling provider Gulf International Services surged 10 percent in its heaviest volume since the company was deleted from MSCI's emerging markets index in late November 2015.

But Barwa Real Estate, the second most traded stock, fell 4.5 percent after it swung to a loss of 518 million riyals ($142.3 million) in the fourth quarter. It made a profit of 2.10 billion riyals in the same period a year ago. Barwa's board has recommended paying a cash dividend of 2.2 riyals per share, the same payout as the previous year.

Bahrain-based Islamic lender Al-Baraka Banking Group dropped 1.8 percent despite reporting a 15 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit on Sunday. The bank made a net attributable profit of $42 million and the board proposed paying a cash dividend of $0.02 per share and a stock dividend of 3 free shares for every 100 held. Bahrain's main index .BAX edged up 0.2 percent.

Cairo’s main benchmark rose 1.3 percent, its second day of gains as foreign and particularly non-Egyptian Arab traders accumulated shares, bourse data showed.