Elsewhere, trading was subdued, with the Saudi bourse rising for a fourth day and Qatar, Oman and Egypt ending almost flat.
The Tadawul All-Share Index increased 47.67 points or 0.76 percent to 6,332.34 on Monday.
Only three negative sectors brought Monday to a positive close. The losses were in the Retail, Media & Publishing and Insurance sectors, which show decline of 0.20 percent, 0.39 percent and 1.17 percent respectively. The Energy & Utilities sector showed no change, while the remaining 11 sectors saw gains which ranged from 0.02 percent in the Multi-Investment sector to a gain of 1.46 percent in the Agriculture & Food Industries. Overall market breadth was positive with 68 advancers and 42 decliners registering an AD ratio of 1.62, the Jeddah-based Financial Transaction House (FTH) said in its daily market commentary.
Kuwait's index added 1 percent to its highest finish since Oct. 28. The index closed at 7,379 points.
Zain's shares were suspended for a second day, but other Kharafi companies surged, with National Investments Co., National Industries Group and Kuwait Food Co. all rising more than 6 percent.
Dubai's index slumped to a two-week low, taking its losses to 3.7 percent since a report on Sunday that government conglomerate Dubai World may offer creditors 60 cents on the dollar, with repayment over seven years.
The Dubai index fell 0.2 percent to 1,614 points, while the Abu Dhabi dropped 0.6 percent to 2,711 points.
In November, Dubai World asked for a standstill as it restructures around $22 billion of debts.
"If the rumors are true, then (the index fall) was not an over-reaction - people are getting concerned that there haven't been any announcements on the progress of talks with creditors," said Robert McKinnon, ASAS Capital chief investment officer.
"This would typically indicate that Dubai does not have much room to negotiate - if the best Dubai can offer is 60 cents on the dollar over seven years, then it's concerning and will damage Dubai's potential to borrow in the future."
Union Properties dropped 2 percent to a seven-year low after posting a third straight quarterly loss.
In Abu Dhabi, Aldar Properties slumped 4.1 percent to a 31-week closing low after reporting a surprise quarterly loss as it failed to make any land sales.
"It's not about the profit and loss statement at the moment - what's important is the cashflow and what worried us more was the receivables," said McKinnon.
"There will be medium-term pressure on the stock as there's not going to be a sudden turnaround in the real estate sector, but overall, we're not too concerned about Aldar - it's a sovereign company."
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank fell 6.6 percent after reporting a $170 million fourth-quarter loss, while Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. (Taqa) dropped 1.6 percent as its full-year profit plunged.
The Oman index eased 0.01 percent to 6,658 points.
The Qatari measure rose 0.1 percent to 6,906 points.
