Foreign investors, including institutional and retail investors, continued their buying spree in GCC stock markets during Q3 2024, with net purchases reaching $3.71 billion.
According to analysis by Kuwait-based Kamco Invest, this positive trend has persisted since the beginning of the year, with foreign investors demonstrating sustained interest in the region’s equity markets.
Abu Dhabi emerged as the top destination for foreign investment, attracting net buying of $1.9bn. Saudi Arabia followed closely with net buying of $1.3bn. Boursa Kuwait also witnessed significant foreign buying, totalling $220.4 million. Dubai, Qatar, and Bahrain recorded net buys of $68.6m, $68.3m, and $46.3m respectively. Notably, Bahrain’s net buying in Q3 2024 marked its highest level in 21 quarters.
Factors influencing foreign investment in the region include regional market trends, IPOs, geopolitical issues, economic health of individual countries, and crude oil prices. The anticipated reduction in US interest rates during the quarter supported market performance, leading to increased foreign buying.
GCC investors shifted to net selling across most GCC exchanges in Q3-2024, totalling $195.1m, a significant decline from net buying of $649.5m in the previous quarter.
In terms of monthly performance, September 2024 saw the highest level of net buying by foreign investors, reaching $2.6 billion. July and August recorded lower levels of net buying.
In terms of trading volume, Q3 2024 saw a 19.8pc quarter-on-quarter increase to 83.01bn shares, driven by strong performances from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Qatar and Oman experienced slight declines. The total value of shares traded also increased to $165.9bn, with Abu Dhabi leading the growth. Nine Saudi-based stocks dominated the top 10 most traded stocks by value, with Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Aramco) and Al Rajhi Bank leading the pack.
The banking sector emerged as the top-performing sector, accounting for 18.8pc of the total value traded. Al-Rajhi Bank, Saudi National Bank, and Alinma Bank were the top performers within the sector.
For the first nine months of 2024, the total value of shares traded increased by 34.4pc to $514.3bn. All sectors witnessed growth, with F&B, banking, and consumer services sectors leading the way.
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