The market capitalization of Arab stock exchanges exceeded $4.361 trillion by the end of April 2024. Recent data from the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) reveals that the AMF’s composite index for Arab financial markets ended trading in April at 487.50 points, declining by about 0.46 percent compared to March 2024. AMF attributes this drop to a decline in most Arab stock exchanges and their values in April, where 10 Arab exchanges saw declines and four saw improvements.
Factors influencing Arab exchanges
The AMF attributes the declines in the value and trading volumes of Arab stock exchanges to a decline in the performance of several sectors, including energy, banking, communications and transportation. This decline is due to a wave of selling pressure by investors during April following the profit-taking operations of listed companies in the first quarter of the year.
The decline in the majority of Arab stock exchanges’ performance indicators during April 2024 was consistent with the decline in U.S. and European stock exchanges. Hence, anticipation of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve, rising inflation and geopolitical tensions impacted trading activity and liquidity globally.
GCC exchanges
Among the most prominent Arab stock exchanges, the market value of the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange reached $754.7 billion in April. Meanwhile, the Dubai Financial Market reached $193.4 billion. In Saudi Arabia, the market value of the Saudi stock exchange reached $2.87 trillion. Meanwhile, the market value of the Qatar stock exchange was recorded at $155.4 billion. Moreover, the Kuwait stock exchange was about $135.6 billion and the Muscat stock exchange was $63.2 billion. In addition, the market value of the Bahrain stock exchange reached $21.2 billion.
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MENA exchanges
In the MENA region, Morocco’s Casablanca stock exchange recorded the highest market value at $68.9 billion. Following it came the Egyptian stock exchange at $34.9 billion. The market value of the Amman stock e reached $23.4 billion, while the Beirut stock exchange recorded $17.2 billion. In addition, the Tunis stock exchange’s market value reached $8.1 billion, the Damascus stock exchange reached $5.9 billion, and the Palestine stock exchange recorded $4.3 billion.
The Arab stock exchange which saw the largest growth was the Iraq stock exchange, with its indicator witnessing a 15.09 percent increase. Meanwhile, the Muscat stock exchange saw a 3.2 percent increase. In addition, the Tunis stock exchange and the Casablanca stock e saw increases of 2.05 and 2.38 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, the Saudi, Palestine and Bahrain stock exchange saw declines of less than 1 percent in April. However, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, the Qatar stock exchange, and the Amman stock exchange saw declines of 1.22, 1.74, and 1.94 percent, respectively.
In addition, the exchanges in Dubai, Damascus, Kuwait, and Egypt saw declines of 2.13, 2.53, 3.77, and 9.06 percent, respectively.
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