Dubai: Equities' trading volumes on Nasdaq Dubai rose by 30 per cent in 2009 to 3.1 billion shares, up from 2.39 billion in 2008.
Volumes in December 2009 reached 410 million shares, the second highest monthly total of the year. This was a 170 per cent increase over the November 2009 figure of 152 million; it was also 170 per cent higher than the December 2008 figure, which also reached 152 million.
The exchange introduced mandatory reporting of all over-the-counter equities trades in September 2008.
Equity derivatives volumes totalled 125,000 in 2009, with 73 per cent of the volume taking place in the second half of the year as the market expanded. A total of 14,100 derivatives traded in December 2009, down 31 per cent from the November 2009 figure of 20,490.
Nasdaq Dubai launched its equity derivatives market in November 2008. Equity futures are listed on 21 individual UAE companies and on the FTSE Nasdaq Dubai UAE 20 share index, which was designed as a hedging and investment mechanism for GCC and international investors. The index rose by 48 per cent in 2009 to 1,851.
A total of 81,522 Dubai Gold Securities (DGS) were traded in 2009 following their listing in March, with 52 per cent of trades taking place in the last quarter of the year. In December 641 DGS traded, down from 40,668 in November.
Each DGS security is valued at approximately 1/10th of the spot price of gold. DGS are an initiative of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre and the World Gold Council and have been declared Shariah-compliant.
