Retail investors double share of trading on Nasdaq Dubai in Q1

Individual investors on Nasdaq Dubai more than doubled their share of equities traded value on the exchange to 7.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2011, up from 2.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2010, the exchange said in a statement today.

The strong increase 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.

The value of trades by individuals rose to $14.8 million in the first quarter of 2011, up 52 per cent from the fourth quarter of 2010. Total traded value – by institutions and individuals – fell 44 per cent in the same period, to reach $202 million in the first quarter of 2011.

Jeff Singer, CEO 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. Investors can now trade on both markets using the same investor number. We look forward to building further retail and institutional liquidity as confidence in the region’s capital markets increases.”

The FTSE Nasdaq Dubai UAE 20 index ended March 2011 at 1,665, up 10 per cent from the end of February and down 8 per cent 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.

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