Mar. 24--DUBAI WORLD TO GET FUNDING FROM $10BN BOND: The head of Dubai's finance department said today that funds from the government's $10bn bond will go to Dubai World, Dubai Holding and domestic firms in the emirate's sovereign wealth fund's portfolio, Reuters has reported. Nasser Al Shaikh said a five-man fiscal committee, led by Emirates airline chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saaed Al Maktoum, was created a month ago to assess how the money will be allocated. He said the government will begin to issue the funds in the next few weeks and noted that non-bank financial advisors will help allocate the financing to avoid 'conflict of interests'.

GULF FINANCE HOUSE LEADS BAHRAIN MARKET GAINS: The Bahrain Stock Exchange (BSE) could not jump on the global bullish bandwagon, closing only 0.22 percent higher at 1,598.43 points. Islamic investment bank Gulf Finance House (GFH) posted the biggest gain (up 4.62 percent). The BSE lost 11.4 percent on a year-to-date-basis, but showed increasing signs of stabilization recently.

KUWAITI MARKET SLIGHTLY LOWER ON PROFIT BOOKINGS: The Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) declined by 0.19 percent (Price Index), closing 6759.4 points. Investors were undecided wether to continue the buying spree from previous days or not. Palms Agro Production, which was among the top gainers yesterday, posted the biggest gain today (up 8.92 percent). Kuwait Reinsurance advanced by 7.84 percent. Al Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait, the only Kuwaiti bank with a small branch in Dubai, posted the biggest loss (off 8.33 percent).

DOHA MARKET BREAKS 5,000-POINTS-BARRIER ON RECORD VOLUMES: Closing 5.88 percent higher at 5,244.48 points on 28,213722 shares changing hands, the Doha Securities Market (DSM) today saw its best trading session in 2009 so far. According to the old trader's rule "the trend is your friend", Qatari banks continued to outperform the general index, with Islamic Securities posting the biggest gain (up 10 percent straight). The Advance-Decline-Ratio stood at 36 against two with no stock closing unchanged.

ABU DHABI EXCHANGE TOPS DUBAI MARKET: Gaining 4.49 percent today, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) gained little more than its counterpart in Dubai (up 4.13 percent). Similar to Dubai, construction shares led the buying fireworks, with RAK Ceramics (up 9.68 percent) and market bellwether Aldar (9.60 percent higher) among the top gainers. Only Julphar Pharmaceutical performed better (gaining 10 percent). Abu Dhabi's move to become Daimler's top shareholder and a global bullish sentiment after a new US rescue plan for toxic assets lifted volumes at the ADX to 164,529,895 shares changing hands.