The financial markets in Abu Dhabi and Dubai witnessed the largest foreign purchases in the Gulf during the first three months of this year, with a net investment of $888.4 million ($3.26 billion).
A recent report issued by Kamco Invest stated that foreign investors, including institutions and individuals, were buyers in the Gulf stock markets during the first quarter of 2024, with net purchases amounting to $1.5 billion, according to the Emirates News Agency, WAM.
He pointed out that the trend has remained positive since the beginning of the year, in light of successive purchases by foreign investors over the first three months of the year.
He explained that Saudi Arabia and Qatar witnessed net selling by foreign investors in January 2024, then net buying during the remaining two months, and Oman and Bahrain were the only two stock exchanges in the Gulf countries that witnessed net selling by foreign investors during this quarter.
The report stated that during this quarter, the stock exchanges witnessed mixed trends, as five out of seven Gulf stock exchanges recorded gains during the first quarter of 2024.
Expectations of changes in global interest rates also played a role in driving the region's performance.
Trading activities
The total volume of shares traded on Gulf stock exchanges increased by 35.9 percent during the first quarter of the year to reach 80.6 billion shares in the first quarter of 2024, compared to 59.3 billion shares in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Saudi Arabia came in first place with a 68.5 percent increase in the volume of traded shares to reach 24.1 billion shares in the first quarter of 2024 compared to 14.3 billion shares in the fourth quarter of 2023, followed by Abu Dhabi by 61.5 percent to record 18.3 billion shares in the first quarter of 2024 compared to 11.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023.
The volume of shares traded in Qatar decreased from 11.5 billion shares in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 10.5 billion shares in the first quarter of 2024.
The total value of shares traded in the first quarter of 2024 also increased significantly, with the total value of shares traded reaching $202 billion in the first quarter of 2024 compared to $137.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Saudi Arabia witnessed the largest increase in trading activity, with the value of traded shares increasing from $93.6 billion in Q4 2023 to $154.5 billion in Q1 2024, increasing its share to 76.5 percent compared to 68 percent in Q1 2023.
