Trading of Dubai Gold Securities (DGS) on NASDAQ Dubai reached 8,761 securities in the third quarter of 2011, an increase of 1,280% from the first two quarters of the year combined.
DGS closely track the spot price of gold and are structured products that can be traded on NASDAQ Dubai through a broker, just like equities. DGS are backed by gold in a bank vault and can be held without the inconvenience of holding physical gold.
NASDAQ Dubai outsourced the trading of DGS to the trading platform of Dubai Financial Market on October 10, 2011 in order to facilitate access by DFM’s retail investors. NASDAQ Dubai’s equities have traded successfully on DFM’s platform since July 2010.
The total value of DGS traded on NASDAQ Dubai reached 1.58 million dollars in the first nine months of 2011, up 65% from 958,000 dollars in the same period of 2010.
In equities trading, individual investors accounted for 6.5% of the traded value of all shares traded on NASDAQ Dubai in the first nine months of 2011. Total equities traded value in the period by individual and institutional investors was 541 million dollars.
In September 2011, individual investors accounted for 3.8% of total equities traded value on NASDAQ Dubai, up from 3% in the previous month. Total equities traded value on the exchange in September 2011 was 30 million dollars, down 59% from 73 million dollars in August 2011 and down 67% from 90 million dollars in September 2010.
The FTSE NASDAQ Dubai UAE 20 index ended September at 1,465, down 5% from the end of August and down 19% 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.
