Since the start of the year, the local stock markets in the UAE have experienced a total of 764 significant transactions, amounting to around AED58 billion ($15.79 billion) and involving 18 billion shares. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) was responsible for a remarkable 95.6 percent of this total transaction value, with the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) contributing the remaining 4.4 percent.
Transactions at ADX
At ADX, there were 549 transactions, encompassing 16.6 billion shares valued at AED55.4 billion. The largest transaction was attributed to Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA), which saw 78 deals totaling AED22.4 billion over 7.6 billion shares. Following TAQA, Fertiglobe recorded AED13.28 billion through 44 transactions involving 4.15 billion shares. Additionally, International Holding Company (IHC) completed a notable single transaction worth AED4.38 billion.
Performance at DFM
In contrast, DFM recorded 215 transactions, trading 1.35 billion shares valued at AED2.54 billion. The largest deal in this market involved Mashreq, valued at AED782.1 million, followed by BHM Capital at AED363.5 million, and Taaleem Holdings, which exceeded AED245.7 million.
Economic analysis and market indices
An economic review has revealed that the General Index of the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) achieved an impressive 10.9 percent increase, representing the highest gain in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region since the beginning of 2024. According to a report released by Kamco Invest, DFM General Index rose by 4.1 percent in September, marking its fourth consecutive month of growth and securing the most significant monthly increase among GCC markets for September 2024, closing at 4,503.48 points.
Sector-specific growth insights
This overall growth was broadly seen across various sectors, particularly driven by strong performances in key indices such as the Financial Index, which grew by 3.6 percent, and the Real Estate Index, which saw an increase of 3.1 percent during September 2024.
Notable index performances in September
The Communications Services Index experienced a remarkable surge of 11.1 percent, the highest for September 2024, while the Consumer Staples and Utilities indices recorded gains of 5.7 percent and 5.2 percent, respectively. Furthermore, the report noted that the FTSE ADX General Index increased by 1.5 percent in September 2024, bouncing back from a 0.6 percent decline in August, and closed the month at 9,425.49 points.
Positive trends across GCC markets
The analysis indicated that most GCC equity markets concluded September 2024 with positive monthly performances, fueled by a rally in global financial markets observed in the latter half of the month. The MSCI GCC index recorded a 0.9 percent increase during this timeframe, reflecting positive momentum in five out of the seven exchanges in the region. Additionally, the report highlighted that the Qatar Stock Exchange rose by 4 percent, the Bahrain Bourse by 2.8 percent, and Saudi Arabia’s TASI by 0.7 percent.
Market capitalization trends in August
According to the latest data from the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF), the market capitalization of Arab stock exchanges rose by 0.52 percent to $4.268 trillion in August 2024, up from $4.246 trillion at the end of July 2024. The AMF’s composite index for Arab stock exchanges concluded trading in August at 493.83 points, reflecting a slight month-on-month increase of approximately 0.45 percent.
Market values of key exchanges
In August 2024, nine of the Arab stock exchanges included in the composite index experienced growth, while six others saw declines. Notably, the Egyptian stock exchange led with the most significant monthly increase of 4.64 percent. The exchanges in Beirut, Damascus, Amman, and Dubai also recorded gains ranging from 3.46 to 1.01 percent. Conversely, the stock exchanges in Saudi Arabia, Muscat, Qatar, and Tunisia showed marginal improvements of less than one percent. In contrast, the exchanges in Casablanca, Kuwait, Palestine, Abu Dhabi, Iraq, and Bahrain experienced declines ranging from 0.25 to 2.24 percent.
Read more: ADX records 15 major deals on ADNOC Gas and Modon valued at $724.2 million
The AMF’s recent monthly bulletin revealed that the market value of the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange stood at $763.9 billion, while the Dubai Financial Market was valued at $197.4 billion, and the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul) reached $2.727 trillion. The Qatar Stock Exchange had a market value of $162.5 billion, Boursa Kuwait was approximately $138.8 billion, Casablanca stock exchange was $73.8 billion, Muscat stock exchange was $63.8 billion, and the Egyptian exchange was valued at $43.36 billion. Additionally, the Amman stock exchange’s value was $23.7 billion, the Bahrain Bourse was $20.19 billion, the Beirut stock exchange was $19.2 billion, the Tunis Bourse was $8.52 billion, the Damascus Securities Exchange was $5.95 billion, and the Palestine exchange was valued at $4.07 billion.
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