Individual investors on NASDAQ Dubai increased their share of equities traded value on the exchange to 9.4% in the second quarter of 2011. This was a rise from 7.4% in the first quarter of 2011, and from 2.7% in the last quarter of 2010.
The continuing expansion came after NASDAQ Dubai started routing all its equities trades through the trading platform of Dubai Financial Market (DFM) in July 2010, in order to improve access by individual investors.
Jeff Singer, Chief Executive of NASDAQ Dubai, said: “We are delighted that the outsourcing to DFM’s systems has succeeded in attracting growing interest from individual investors in NASDAQ Dubai equities. We look forward to building further liquidity as confidence in the region’s capital markets increases. An active retail base combined with institutional liquidity puts NASDAQ Dubai in a strong position to attract further initial public offerings.”
The value of equities trades by individuals rose to 19.8 million dollars in the second quarter of 2011, a rise of 34% over the first quarter of 2011 and 104% over the fourth quarter of 2010.
Total equities traded value – by institutions and individuals – reached 209 million dollars in the second quarter of 2011, an increase of 4% over the 202 million dollars recorded in the first quarter of 2011.
Total equities traded value reached 411 million dollars in the first half of 2011, down 44% from 728 million dollars in the same period of 2010.
Total equities traded value in June 2011 reached 74 million dollars, up 17% from 63 million dollars in May 2011 and up 21% from 61 million dollars in June 2010.
The FTSE NASDAQ Dubai UAE 20 index ended June 2011 at 1,641, down 5% from the end of May and down 9% from the end of 2010. The index tracks 20 liquid stocks listed on DFM, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and NASDAQ Dubai. It has been designed as a hedging and investment mechanism for GCC and international investors.