How did GCC equity markets fare in 2024?

A GCC market trading hall

Five of seven GCC equity market indices under coverage ended 2024 on the rise, according to Argaam’s in-depth report on GCC equity markets.

Dubai Financial Market (DFM) led its peers, wrapping up 2024 with an annual rise of 27% and adding 1,099 points to close at 5,158.7.

Boursa Kuwait came in second with a 5% annual hike, ending 2024 at 7,838.8 points with a 362-point gain. Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX), Bahrain Bourse, and Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) indices edged up by around 1% each compared to 2023 levels.

On the other hand, Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) fell 2.4% to 10,571.1 points, losing 259.5 points in 2024. Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) followed with a 2% annual decline, closing at 9,419 points with a 159-point drop.

The 2024 gains across GCC equity markets were buoyed by several influential factors, most notably the rise in most global markets particularly in the US, and three Federal Reserve rate cuts during the year.

The following table details GCC equity markets’ performance in 2024:

GCC equity markets performance in 2024
Market	December 2023	December 2024	Change (Points)	Change %
Dubai	4059.80	5158.67	1098.87	+27%
Kuwait*	7477.04	7838.76	361.72	+5%
Muscat	4514.07	4551.63	37.56	+1%
Bahrain	1971.49	1985.91	14.42	+1%
Saudi Arabia	11967.39	12036.50	69.11	+1%
Abu Dhabi	9577.85	9419.00	(158.85)	(2%)
Qatar	10830.63	10571.09	(259.54)	(2%)

*The first index with large caps

Traded values in GCC markets for 2024:

GCC traded values rose at an annualized rate of about 29% in 2024, reaching $699.9 billion, up from $541.2 billion in 2023.

These gains were fueled by higher traded values for most Gulf equity markets. Saudi Arabia’s TASI spearheaded this increase with a 40% annual leap to total $496.6 billion by 2024-end, compared to $355.5 billion in 2023. Boursa Kuwait followed, up 43% on a yearly basis to $48.3 billion in 2024, from $33.8 billion in the year before.

Bahrain Bourse, MSX, ADX, and DFM recorded annual gains of 52%, 11%, 7%, and 5%, respectively, in 2024.

However, QSE slumped at an annualized rate of 15%, with its traded value dropping to $29.3 billion in 2024, from $34.4 billion in the previous year, as indicated below:

Traded value of GCC equity markets ($ bln)

Market	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Saudi Arabia	232.2	234.7	556.7	596.2	455.5	355.5	*496.6
Abu Dhabi	10.8	15.5	19.8	100.7	122.8	87.2	93.3
Kuwait	13.6	26.2	35.7	44.9	47.7	33.8	48.3
Qatar	18.8	18.6	29.1	31.0	44.1	34.4	29.3
Dubai	16.3	14.5	17.9	19.7	24.4	26.8	28.2
Muscat	2.0	1.9	1.1	2.1	2.4	2.9	3.3
Bahrain	0.87	0.75	0.56	0.52	0.45	0.56	0.85
Total	294.6	312.2	660.9	795.1	697.3	541.2	699.9

*Excluding Aramco's $11.2 billion deals.

Key metrics in 2024:

By the end of 2024, the overall GCC market capitalization added $126.53 billion to $2.37 trillion, up from $2.25 trillion in 2023.

DFM had the lowest 12-month P/E ratio among GCC markets at 9.6x, followed by MSX at 10.2x. TASI and ADX recorded the highest P/E ratios at 23.95x and 23.52x, respectively, as the following table shows:

Key metrics at 2024-end
Market	Market Value ($ bln)		P/E ratio (×)	Book Value (×)
Market	December 2023	December 2024	December 2024	December 2024
Dubai	187.34	247.12	9.61	1.69
Muscat	61.89	71.75	10.16	0.93
Bahrain	20.66	20.48	12.02	1.02
Qatar	171.60	170.57	12.45	1.33
Kuwait	130.44	142.06	16.85	1.63
Abu Dhabi	807.57	817.05	23.52	3.39
Saudi Arabia*	872.89	909.90	23.95	2.35
Total	2252.38	2379.12	--	--

*Excluding Saudi Aramco

GCC heavyweights: Emaar Properties, ACWA Power, Aldar Properties top peers by market cap:

The top 30 GCC-listed companies showed mixed performance by market cap in 2024, with 18 gainers — out of the 30 listed companies under coverage — and 12 decliners. DFM-listed Emaar Properties led gainers with a 62% annual rise in its market cap, followed by TASI-listed ACWA Power (56%) and ADX-listed Aldar Properties (44%).

Meanwhile, Alpha Dhabi Holding saw the steepest drop in its market cap among its peers in 2024, losing 37%, followed by Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) at 20% and Emirates Telecommunications Group Co. (Etisalat Group) at 17%.

Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Saudi Aramco) remained the largest, with a $1.81 trillion market cap, far exceeding its second-highest peer, International Holding Company (IHC), which holds $242 billion, as the following table shows:

Top 30 GCC Heavyweights by Market Cap ($ mln)
Company	Market	December 2024	December 2024	Change %
Saudi Aramco	Saudi Arabia	2,129,600.0	1,810,160.0	(15%)
IHC	Abu Dhabi	238,779.1	241,995.7	+1%
TAQA	Abu Dhabi	107,226.1	107,501.0	+0.3%
Al Rajhi Bank	Saudi Arabia	92,266.7	100,906.7	+9%
ACWA Power	Saudi Arabia	50,105.2	78,413.2	+56%
ADNOC Gas	Abu Dhabi	64,621.8	73,383.9	+14%
SNB	Saudi Arabia	61,840.0	53,440.0	(14%)
SABIC	Saudi Arabia	66,800.0	53,600.0	(20%)
stc	Saudi Arabia	53,866.7	53,333.3	(1%)
Maaden	Saudi Arabia	49,233.3	51,008.0	+4%
QNB	Qatar	41,944.6	43,873.0	+5%
KFH	Kuwait	37,855.3	41,989.9	+11%
FAB	Abu Dhabi	42,023.1	41,348.7	(2%)
DEWA	Dubai	33,515.0	38,680.8	+15%
Etisalat	Abu Dhabi	46,540.6	38,662.0	(17%)
Emirates NBD	Dubai	29,775.8	36,907.8	+24%
Alpha Dhabi Holding	Abu Dhabi	51,226.2	32,415.6	(37%)
Emaar Properties	Dubai	19,074.4	30,938.8	+62%
Sulaiman Al Habib	Saudi Arabia	26,506.7	26,170.7	(1%)
NBK	Kuwait	23,778.3	24,321.1	+2%
Elm	Saudi Arabia	17,365.3	23,780.7	+37%
ADNOC Drilling	Abu Dhabi	16,479.6	23,230.3	+41%
Riyad Bank	Saudi Arabia	22,800.0	22,880.0	+0.4%
Industries Qatar	Qatar	21,740.1	22,055.9	+1%
ADCB	Abu Dhabi	18,309.8	20,777.0	+13%
Burooj	Abu Dhabi	20,229.6	19,650.5	(3%)
Alinma Bank	Saudi Arabia	20,613.3	19,300.0	(6%)
SEC	Saudi Arabia	21,088.5	18,777.4	(11%)
SAB	Saudi Arabia	20,515.5	18,433.8	(10%)
Aldar Properties	Abu Dhabi	11,461.9	16,448.9	+44%

Top gainers in GCC equity markets:

Kuwait dominated the top 30 gainers in 2024 with 17 listed companies, followed by Saudi Arabia (10), Abu Dhabi (2), and Dubai (1). Kuwait’s MENA Holding Co. led with a 319% rise, trailed by Bildco (276%) and Wataniya Drilling (221%).

GCC top gainers in 2024**
Stock*	Market	December 2023*	December 2024*	Change
MENA Holding	Kuwait	0.036	0.152	+319%
Bildco	Abu Dhabi	0.24	0.91	+276%
Wataniya Drilling	Kuwait	0.108	0.347	+221%
KMEFIC	Kuwait	0.085	0.268	+215%
First Takaful	Kuwait	0.055	0.166	+201%
Saudi Re	Saudi Arabia	18.60	53.90	+190%
IFA Hotels	Kuwait	0.640	1.850	+189%
Unicap	Kuwait	0.089	0.239	+167%
Red Sea	Saudi Arabia	23.70	61.50	+159%
First Fuel	Kuwait	0.138	0.355	+157%
Electrical Industries	Saudi Arabia	2.84	7.24	+155%
Equipment Holding	Kuwait	0.032	0.079	+148%
Energy House	Kuwait	0.060	0.148	+147%
United	Kuwait	0.046	0.114	+146%
Al Baha	Saudi Arabia	0.19	0.47	+144%
Al Rajhi Takaful	Saudi Arabia	71.00	171.60	+142%
Warba Capital	Kuwait	0.106	0.249	+135%
Wethaq	Kuwait	0.024	0.053	+120%
Chemical Industries	Saudi Arabia	4.32	9.27	+115%
Tahssilat	Kuwait	0.021	0.045	+114%
Apex Investments	Abu Dhabi	1.97	4.21	+114%
GO	Saudi Arabia	51.51	109.00	+112%
CHUBB Arabia	Saudi Arabia	25.00	49.50	+98%
Synergy	Kuwait	0.031	0.060	+97%
MESC	Saudi Arabia	22.34	43.40	+94%
Emaar Development	Dubai	7.15	13.70	+92%
Retal	Saudi Arabia	8.52	16.18	+90%
Gulf Investment House	Kuwait	0.330	0.623	+89%
KFIC	Kuwait	0.069	0.128	+86%
ABAR	Kuwait	0.089	0.163	+83%

*The price depends on the country.

**Excluding companies with low turnover.

Top losers in GCC equity markets:

In terms of the 2024 top decliners, as many as 14 companies under coverage were from Abu Dhabi. Nine others were from Saudi Arabia, three were from Muscat, two from Kuwait, and one from each of Dubai and Qatar.

Galfar Engineering & Contracting Co. led with a 54% annual drop, followed by Agility Logistics Co. and Al Seer Marine Co. (ASM) — both down 51%, as the following table shows:

GCC top decliners in 2024**
Stock	Market	December 2023*	December 2024*	Change
Galfar Engineering	Muscat	0.166	0.076	(54%)
Agility	Kuwait	0.509	0.247	(51%)
ASM	Abu Dhabi	7.51	3.65	(51%)
Phoenix Group	Abu Dhabi	2.24	1.19	(47%)
Ghitha Holding	Abu Dhabi	42.38	24.00	(43%)
Pure Health	Abu Dhabi	5.70	3.33	(42%)
Arabian Drilling	Saudi Arabia	191.00	111.60	(42%)
Space42	Abu Dhabi	3.33	2.00	(40%)
Fujairah Cement	Abu Dhabi	0.37	0.23	(39%)
Al Anwar Ceramic Tiles	Muscat	0.171	0.106	(38%)
ARAM Group	Abu Dhabi	3.10	1.94	(37%)
Burjeel Holding	Abu Dhabi	3.11	1.96	(37%)
Alpha Dhabi Holding	Abu Dhabi	18.80	11.90	(37%)
Saudi Kayan	Saudi Arabia	10.96	7.02	(36%)
Palms Sports	Abu Dhabi	14.20	9.13	(36%)
Al Hammadi	Saudi Arabia	59.40	38.40	(35%)
Multiply Group	Abu Dhabi	3.18	2.07	(35%)
National Hotels	Abu Dhabi	0.89	0.58	(35%)
Modern Mills***	Saudi Arabia	62.40	41.15	(34%)
Al Arabia	Saudi Arabia	219.09	145.20	(34%)
Eshraq Investments	Abu Dhabi	0.46	0.31	(32%)
CBQ	Qatar	6.200	4.350	(30%)
Yanbu Cement	Saudi Arabia	34.45	24.30	(29%)
Americana	Abu Dhabi	3.13	2.21	(29%)
Ooredoo	Muscat	0.325	0.230	(29%)
Lumi	Saudi Arabia	100.00	71.20	(29%)
ADES	Saudi Arabia	24.00	17.36	(28%)
Jazeera Airways	Kuwait	1.389	1.008	(27%)
Gulf Navigation	Dubai	7.33	5.32	(27%)
Zain KSA	Saudi Arabia	14.08	10.26	(27%)

*Excluding companies with low turnover.

**The price depends on the country.

***Stock trading began on 27/3/2024.

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