Driven by a selective buying spree targeting some bank shares as well as Etisalat, the UAE stock markets ended Thursday's transactions on a high note, securing decent gains amounting to around AED3.5 billion.

Within this context, DFM General Index closed up 0.07 percent to 3657 points , with ADX General Index following suit by 0.62 percent to 4481.

Purchases targeting blue chips were pretty well expected after the boom witnessed by the property sector over the past days, according to market analysts.

Emirates NBD was among the shares that closed in the green, rising to AED8.31 followed by Mashreq Bank which went 8.1 percent to AED80.00 while Dubai Islamic Bank closed at AED6.19.

At ADX, Etisalat is about to break the18-dirham mark, closing at AED17.95, wooing transactions worth more than AED40 million, while Dana Gas climbed to 83 fils, up 2 percent from the last traded price.

A total of 3796 transactions worth AED550 million were conducted over 265 million shares. Out of 62 trading companies, 17 firms closed high, 33 down and 12 at their last traded prices.