Arab stock exchanges post 12.2% rise in market cap during 2023: Official

Rami El Dokany, Secretary General of Arab Federation of Capital Market

Arab stock exchanges recorded an increase in market capitalization by 12.2% during 2023 to reach $4.6 trillion, Secretary General of Arab Federation of Capital Markets (AFCM) Rami El Dokany told Argaam.

At the AFCM Annual Conference held in Doha, Qatar, on April 29-30, El Dokany said that Arab stock markets registered a 13.2% year-on-year (YoY) decline in liquidity in 2023 to $663 billion.

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Meanwhile, the number of transactions grew by 15.2% to 129 million trading transactions.

He indicated that most countries in the world are still applying tight monetary policies, which have affected the stock exchanges’ liquidity.

Equity markets tend to lose liquidity on higher interest rates, as it moves to safe havens.

Talking about gold, El Dokany said prices rose globally as a result of the tight monetary policy that was recently implemented in the markets.

In light of expectations that the US Federal Reserve will lower interest rates, such markets should benefit, he added.

The Arab region witnessed 49 new listings, headed by the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul) with 35 listings and followed by Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) with six listings. On the other hand, many Arab markets delisted companies, resulting in the total number of listed companies rising by 32 in 2023.

IPO revenues dropped by about 50% YoY to only $10.8 billion. Moreover, trading values in the financial derivatives witnessed a noticeable decline of 29% YoY in 2023.

Arab stock exchanges attracted more than 900,000 new investors in 2023, bringing the total number of investors to 11.7 million, including individuals and institutions.

The region distributed $21.7 billion in dividends, an increase of 20% YoY, El Dokany highlighted.