Trading activity across Arab stock markets surged in July, with the number of shares changing hands rising almost 29 per cent from the previous month even as the value of transactions declined.
Trading volume climbed 28.82pc to 261.86 billion shares in July from 203.27 billion in June, according to the Arab Monetary Fund’s monthly bulletin on Arab capital markets.
The increase was led by the Iraq Stock Exchange, where shares traded jumped 54.88pc to 166.66 billion, accounting for almost two-thirds of total Arab-market volume. Egypt followed, with trading volume rising 13.12pc to about 69.26bn shares.
The surge in volume came despite a 16.82pc decline in trading value to $90.24bn from $108.48bn in June, a drop of about $18.25bn. The AMF said much of the decline was concentrated in the Egyptian and Saudi markets, along with Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait.
The AMF report attributed the divergence to a mismatch between activity and value, noting the increase “came despite a decline in trading volumes in eight markets against a rise in seven other markets,” with much of the added volume concentrated in Iraq’s stock exchange and the Egyptian bourse.
The divergence in trading activity came against a mixed performance in regional equities. The AMF’s composite index for Arab financial markets fell 0.19pc in July, with seven exchanges gaining and seven declining.
Egypt’s EGX30 was the region’s best-performing major index, gaining 5.85pc during the month. Amman’s ASE100 rose 3.64pc, while Iraq’s ISX60 and the Damascus Securities Exchange gained 2.13pc and 1.82pc, respectively.
Abu Dhabi’s FADGI advanced 1.13pc, while Tunisia’s TUNINDEX and Kuwait’s index gained 0.88pc and 0.58pc.
Bahrain recorded the biggest decline, falling 4.22pc, followed by Qatar at 3.13pc, Muscat at 3.07pc and Dubai at 2.68pc. Casablanca, Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul and Palestine’s Al-Quds index fell 2.05pc, 1.95pc and 1.01pc, respectively.
Despite the uneven index performance, the combined market capitalisation of Arab exchanges was broadly stable, rising 0.06pc to about $4.31 trillion. The increase amounted to roughly $2.38bn, with nine markets recording higher valuations and six posting declines.
Egypt’s market capitalisation rose 7pc during the month, the strongest increase among the region’s exchanges, followed by Iraq at 3.64pc and Amman at 2.43pc.
Saudi Arabia, despite a relatively small increase in market capitalisation, made a significant contribution to the regional total because of the size of its market
&uuid=(email))