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ABU DHABI / WAM
The value of shares bought by foreign traders at the UAE financial markets stood at AED21.8 billion in the first two months of 2017. This volatility reflects high frequency of entering of this investor category to the market compared to the same period in 2016.
An Emirates News Agency (WAM) analysis shows that foreign purchases in January and February constitute 42.3 percent of the total number of transactions at the Abu Dhabi and Dubai financial markets during the reported period, totalling AED51.5 billion.
Financial brokers said the rise in foreign investment activity in UAE financial markets reflect the desire of some foreign investors to obtain lucrative annual dividends, which are distributed by local companies to shareholders. These investors also exploit this period for speculations.
They added that some foreign investors prefer to enter these markets during this period to seek personal gains, in light of the high volatile margins of many stock prices, whether leading stocks or small stocks that are classified as less than AED1.
The foreign purchases in January and February reached AED16.314 billion in both markets, while the sales reached AED16.84 billion
in corresponding period, with the net foreign investments reaching AED534 million.
The value of purchases of non-Arab foreign traders’ purchases at the Dubai Financial Market touched AED5.275 billion, while their sales reached AED5.075 billion. Also, the Arab foreign traders’ purchases reached AED8.132 billion, while the sales amounted to AED8.28 billion.
At the Abu Dhabi Financial Market, the total value of foreign purchases reached AED5.46 billion, while the value of sales reached AED4.87 billion, with the net foreign investments placed at AED590 million. The value of non- Arab foreign investors’ purchases at the Abu Dhabi Financial Market stood at AED2.63 billion in January
and February, while their sales reached AED2.38 billion. The Arab traders’ purchases stood at AED2 billion, while their sales reached AED1.92 billion.
This analysis indicates that the largest percentage of foreign investments, since the start of the current year, are leading stocks in real estate, banks, and investment in entertainment sectors.