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Net foreign buying of stocks in Abu Dhabi hits $1.9b in Q3

The quarter recorded a net buying at $3.71 billion in the GCC

Published: Tue 29 Oct 2024, 7:09 PM

Updated: Tue 29 Oct 2024, 7:10 PM

By
Issac John

Foreign investors, including institutional and retail investors, were net buyers on GCC stock markets during Q3-2024 with Abu Dhabi stock market recording the biggest buying as total net buying rose to $1.9 billion.

The quarter recorded a net buying at $3.71 billion in the GCC as compared to $ 3.66 billion during Q2-2024.

“The trend remained positive from the start of the year with consecutive buying by foreign investors during the first nine months of the year. The biggest buying was seen in Abu Dhabi with total net buying of $ 1.9 billion followed by Saudi Arabia recording $ 1.3 billion net buying by foreign investors,” Kamco Invest analysts said.

Analysts said with the listing of Lulu shares on ADX next month, Abu Dhabi will continue to lead both in terms of foreign institutional and retail investors.

Boursa Kuwait was next with the exchange also witnessing consecutive buying by foreigners during the three months of the quarter aggregating to $220.4 million followed by Dubai, Qatar and Bahrain exchanges with net buy transactions of $68.6 million, $68.3 million and $46.3 million, respectively.

Abu Dhabi reported the biggest increase in trading activity with value traded increasing from $16 billion in Q2-2024 to $21.4 billion in Q3-2024 resulting in a share of 12.9 per cent vs. 10.1 per cent in Q2-2024.

Trading by GCC investors in GCC exchanges showed net selling during Q3-2024. Net sale trades of GCC investors reached $195.1 million in Q3-2024 compared to a net buy trade of $649.5 million in Q2-2024. Saudi Exchange witnessed the biggest net buying by GCC investors during Q3-2024 at $21.4 million. Oman was next with the exchange also witnessing consecutive buying during Q3-2024 with $6.2 million. On the other hand, Kuwait, Dubai and Qatar exchanges recorded net sales by GCC investors in Q3-2024 partially offsetting the overall buying by GCC investors. In terms of monthly trend during Q3-2024, aggregate trading activity by GCC Investors on GCC exchanges peaked during July-2024 and hit the lowest trading month in Aug -2024.

Total GCC volume traded increased by 19.8 per cent q-o-q to reach 83.01 billion shares in Q3- 2024 as compared to 69.3 billion shares in Q2-2024. All the GCC Exchanges reported a q-o-q increase in volume during the quarter barring Qatar and Oman.

According to analysts, some of the key factors that affected the flow of foreign money in the region included regional market trends, IPOs, geopolitical issues, economic health of the individual countries and crude oil prices. The quarter saw an uptrend in the equity market and skewed towards gainers as two out of seven exchanges reported declines during Q3-2024. The anticipated reduction in interest rate by the US Fed during the quarter supported market performance in the region. As a result, local investors were net sellers during the quarter and these shares were grabbed by foreign investors resulting in broad-based net buy trades by the latter, they said.