Major stock markets in the Gulf ended mixed on Wednesday, with the Abu Dhabi index ending its run of gains, while Saudi Arabia was lifted by its financial shares.

The Saudi benchmark index rose 0.3%, helped by a 5.7% gain in Banque Saudi Fransi and a 3.3% increase in Dr Sulaiman Al-Habib Medical Services.

However, petrochemical firm Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) eased 0.3%.

SABIC has selected HSBC and Morgan Stanley to work on the planned initial public offering (IPO) of its specialty chemicals business, Reuters reported, citing two sources familiar with the matter. 

The Abu Dhabi index declined 0.8%, snapping eight sessions of gains, hit by a 1.5% fall in the country's largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank and a 1.6% decrease in telecoms firm Etisalat.

However, International Holding continued its upbeat trend to conclude 2% higher.

The firm has gone through rapid expansion across its major business sectors, resulting in a sharp growth in its financials, positioning it for long-term growth.

In Dubai, the main share index fell 0.6%, with its largest lender Emirates NBD losing 0.9%, while budget airliner Air Arabia dropped 2.3%.

Separately, United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed has appointed Khalid al-Tameemi as governor of the UAE's central bank, state news agency WAM said, citing a decree issued on Wednesday. Tameemi, who was appointed central bank vice governor in February, will be replacing Abdulhamid Saeed.

In Qatar, the benchmark advanced 1%, as most of the stocks on the index gained led by a 6.4% jump in Commercial Bank.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index eased 0.4%, with Egypt Kuwait Holding shedding 3.7%.

(Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Chopra) ((AteeqUr.Shariff@thomsonreuters.com; +918061822788;))