Foreign investors stock up again

Foreign investors are back in action on the UAE stock exchanges.

A latest report shows that foreign ownership in 27 listed companies went up by 291.7 million shares in the first half of September.

Maha Kanez, an economic analyst at Al Fajer Securities who authored the report, said this is a confirmation that the two markets are attracting foreign money again, a key indicator of overall sentiment for the economy.

While Central Bank data [see Page 4] showed a Dh44 billion flight of 'hot money' last year, the tide seems to have turned on the back of a strong Ramadan showing on the bourses.

The Al Fajer study said foreign ownership went up by 195.4 million shares in 13 companies on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and 96.3 million shares in 14 firms on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.

As if on cue, the DFM closed 3.6 per cent higher yesterday.

Analysts eyeing the trends believe that the UAE economy is set to make a comeback later this year if the capital markets are anything to go by. "Don't forget, stock markets usually precede the economy – in both directions," Robert W McMillen, Vice-Chairman, MAC Sharaf Securities, told Emirates Business. (With inputs from Vicky Kapur).

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