Abu Dhabi: The combined market capitalisation of Arab stock exchanges is currently around $960 billion (Dh3.52 trillion), up from about $600 billion in March when the global financial crisis was at its worst, Dr Fadi Khalaf, Secretary General of the Union of Arab Stock Exchanges, said on Sunday.
"The market capitalisation of the Arab stock exchanges at the peak on January 15, 2008 stood at around $1.3 trillion," Khalaf said during a presentation at the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.
"Looking ahead, it's going to be very difficult getting anywhere close to the peak level as at each uptrend there's going to be profit-taking," he said.
Khalaf said circuit breaker systems need to be in place in Arab stock markets to avoid share price manipulation.
He said the Arab bourses underperformed in the first nine months of this year compared to other emerging markets. However, some very attractive valuations are available.
"We still have good opportunities for investment unlike other emerging markets which have gone up too high and too fast," said Khalaf.
"There are several opportunities within our region at this time. We have some very good valuations and reasonable prices ... some very attractive ratios for institutional investors from all around the world," Khalaf added.
"As the oil prices move to higher levels, we are looking at a better performance from our markets," he said.
Khalaf said emerging markets such as China, India and Turkey and the markets within the Gulf region offer the best investment opportunities at the moment and these markets will help the world economy come out of its worst slump in decades.
The Union of Arab Stock Exchanges is a federation comprising 16 member countries from the Gulf Arab region.
