Activity on Nasdaq Dubai’s equity futures market has increased significantly in its second month, with 103,393 contracts traded in October, up 567% from 15,508 in September.
The market opened on September 1, 2016, with single stock futures contracts on seven leading UAE-listed companies: Aldar Properties, Arabtec Holding, DP World, Dubai Islamic Bank, DXB Entertainments, Emaar Properties and Etisalat. Two others companies, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and Union Properties, were added on October 23.
Emaar Properties futures have been the most heavily traded by value since the market opened, followed by DXB Entertainments and Aldar. The most active broker has been Al Ramz Capital, followed by Menacorp and Mubasher.
Hamed Ali, Chief Executive of Nasdaq Dubai said:
We are pleased by the performance of the market so far, with increasing numbers of investors taking both long and short positions. Activity looks set to build further as we expand the range of futures offered and the number of connected brokers and other market participants.
In the last 10 trading days of October an average of 8,100 contracts traded, up 1,300% from an average of 566 contracts in the same period of September. Each contract represents 100 underlying shares.