Sunday 19 / May / 2024
Muscat: Foreign investors, including institutional and retail investors, were net buyers on GCC stock markets during the first quarter of 2024 with net buying at $1.5 billion as compared to $1.3 billion in net selling during the fourth quarter of 2023.
The trend remained positive since the start of the year with consecutive buying by foreign investors during the first three months of the year. The biggest buying was seen in UAE listed stocks with both Abu Dhabi and Dubai exchanges witnessing consecutive buying during each of the three months during Q1-2024, aggregating total net buying of $888.4 million. Boursa Kuwait was next with the exchange also seeing consecutive buying by foreigners during the three months of the quarter with $334.9 million.
On the other hand, Saudi Arabia and Qatar witnessed net sell trades by foreign investors during January-2024 followed by net buy trades during the remaining two months. Oman and Bahrain were the only exchanges in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that witnessed net sale by foreign investors during the quarter. Data for Oman showed net buying only during January-2024 followed by net sale during the remaining two months. In the case of Bahrain, the net sale was minimal at $1.9 million during Q1-2024.
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 a mixed trend in the equity market that favored gainers as five out of seven exchanges reported gains during Q1-2024.
The expectations related to global interest rate changes also steered performance in the region. However, the seasonal selling pressure during the month of Ramadan resulted in a decline in the market during March-2024. As a result, local investors were net sellers during the month and these shares were grabbed by foreign investors resulting in broad-based net buy trades by the latter.
In terms of month-on-month (m-o-m) performance, net buying value by foreign investors peaked during February-2024 with aggregate monthly net buying at $678.4 million. March witnessed a decline with net buying at $582.0 million while January registered the smallest net buying at $199.4 million.
Historical trends for trading by foreigners in GCC listed stocks showed declines merely in two quarters over the last five years. Foreigners bought the most stocks during Q1-2022 with net buy transactions of $11 billion, reflecting a steep increase in buying mainly in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Trading by GCC investors in GCC exchanges showed net sales during Q1-2024. Net sale trades of GCC investors reached $414.6 million compared to net sale trades of $570.7 billion in Q4-2023. Oman witnessed the biggest net selling by GCC investors during Q1-2024 at $141.7 million closely followed by Saudi Exchange and Dubai exchanges at $140.2 million and $120.9 million, respectively. On the other hand, Abu Dhabi exchange recorded the biggest net buying by GCC investors in Q1-2024 partially offsetting the overall selling by GCC investors.
GCC trading activity quarterly report
Trading by GCC investors in GCC exchanges showed net sales during Q1-2024. Net sale trades of GCC investors reached $414.6 million compared to a net sale of $570.7 billion in Q4-2023. Oman witnessed the biggest net selling by GCC investors during Q1-2024 at $141.7 million closely followed by Saudi Exchange and Dubai exchanges at $140.2 million and $120.9 million, respectively. On the other hand, Abu Dhabi exchange recorded the biggest net buying by GCC investors in Q1-2024 partially offsetting the overall selling by GCC investors.
In terms of the aggregate trading activity, total GCC volume traded during q-o-q gained by 35.9 percent to reach 80.6 billion shares in Q1-2024 as compared to 59.3 billion shares in Q4-2023. Saudi Arabia topped the list with a gain of 68.5 percent to record 24.1 billion in Q1-2024 compared to 14.3 billion in Q4-2023, followed by Abu Dhabi with 61.5 percent to record 18.3 billion in Q1-2024 against 11.4 billion in Q4-2023. Qatar, on the other hand, declined from 11.5 billion in Q4-2023 to 10.5 billion in Q1-2024.
Similarly, the total value of shares traded during Q1-2024 also reported a gain and was largely broad based. Qatar, Bahrain and Oman declined in value traded while the rest of the markets gained during Q1-2024. Aggregate value traded reached $202 billion in Q1-2024 against $137.5 billion in Q4-2023. Saudi Arabia reported the biggest increase in trading activity with value traded increasing from $93.6 billion in Q4-2023 to $154.5 billion in Q1-2024 resulting in a share of 76.5 percent against 68 percent in Q1-2023.
