São Paulo – Nasdaq Dubai, the stock exchange in the UAE, will offer futures market shares for 12 Saudi Arabian companies as of next September. The stock exchange said the goal is to pique investor interest in Saudi shares.
The companies, which account for a combined 43% of Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul stock exchange, are some of the Middle East’s biggest, with a total capital of SAR 859 billion, or USD 229 billion, and are active in real estate, petrochemicals, banking and transportation.
They are: Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic), Al Rajhi Bank, Alinma Bank, Almarai Company, Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Development Company, Etihad Etisalat Company, Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Company, Saudi Arabian Mining Company, Saudi Cement Company, Saudi Electricity Company, Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company, and Altayyar Travel Group. The shares will be traded in Saudi riyal.
Nasdaq Dubai CEO Hamed Ali said he is pleased to be able to provide investors with new hedging and leverage tools. “The launch of these products in Dubai reflects the growing synergies between the capital markets of the GCC,” he said – the GCC comprises the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait.
Nasdaq Dubai launched futures trading in the UAE in September 2016 with seven listed companies. The current number is 17. Last February, it added futures linked to the Dubai Financial Market’s benchmark share index. In May, it said it would offer Saudi shares, but had not named the companies involved.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
