Saudi Arabia’s stock market Tadawul outperformed all other Gulf Arab markets Wednesday by gaining 0.86 percent, closing at 6,158.99 points.

Oil prices stabilized above 72 U.S. dollars per barrel, helping shares of Sahara Petrochemical to gain 0.54 percent at 18.75 Saudi riyals (5 dollars).

In Abu Dhabi, the leading oil and gas producer Abu Dhabi National Energy Co., also called Taqa, lost 2.5 percent and closed at 1.19 dirham (0.32 dollar).

The Dubai Financial Market finished up 0.19 percent at 1,486.52 points. Logistics provider Aramax, which currently runs a Middle Eastern wide aid program for flood victims in Pakistan, was the most liquid stock, gaining 1.16 percent at 1.74 dirham (0.47 dollar).

At Nasdaq Dubai, interior designer Depa Ltd. recovered further after last week’s setback, closing 5.45 percent higher at 0.58 dollar, one of the highest single gain in the Gulf region.

Qatar’s QE Index climbed by 0.34 percent to 7,250.61 points. Doha Bank ended 1.93 percent higher at 47.5 Qatari riyals (13.05 dollars).

Standard & Poor’s Ratings (S&P) Services believes that Gulf banks it rates appear to be showing signs of improvement, after spending more than 20 billion dollars on loan loss provisions and investment impairments since 2008.

“Thanks to high oil prices and government policies, the economies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), comprising Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Oman, are starting to recover,” S&P credit analyst Mohamad Damak said.

“We believe the asset quality of Gulf banks should improve from 2011 and that their good margins and efficiency will provide a solid foundation for their return to high profitability,” he said, adding that other positive factors for most Gulf banks were “their good capitalization.”

S&P calculates its average risk-adjusted capital (RAC) ratio for Gulf banks it rates at 10.2 percent before adjustments at year- end 2009, or almost twice the average ratio for the top 45 banks in the world.

In Kuwait, losses in the real estate and banking sector weighed on the KSE Market Index, which ended down 0.16 percent at 6,677.9 points. The Bahrain Stock Exchange advanced by 0.31 percent to 1, 423.06 points.