Nasdaq Dubai to launch futures on GFH Group
DUBAI, January 10, 2018
Nasdaq Dubai, the region's international stock exchange, will launch single stock futures on GFH Financial Group (GFH) starting from January 16, to enable investors to take positions on movements in the share price of the Bahrain-based company.
GFH is the first non-UAE company on which the exchange is offering futures. It has a secondary listing on Dubai Financial Market, on which its shares were the most heavily traded by value of any company in 2017.
The addition of GFH is the latest expansion of Nasdaq Dubai’s derivatives market, thus taking the total number of UAE-listed companies on which single stock futures can be traded to 17. The market opened with futures on seven companies in September 2016.
Shuaa Capital will provide market-making services on GFH to facilitate liquidity, as it does on all the exchange’s single stock futures.
Nasdaq Dubai said its derivatives market is attracting significant activity from investors, who make use of leverage to magnify the financial outcome of their trades.
Nasdaq Dubai CEO Hamed Ali said: "The addition of GFH to our market is the first step in an expansion that will include futures on more companies based in the GCC and elsewhere outside the UAE as the platform develops."
"We will continue to diversify the opportunities for investors to hedge or take a position on future price expectations, including making gains whether the value of the underlying share is falling or rising," he noted.
Nasdaq Dubai, which is located in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), will launch index futures on Dubai Financial Market’s DFMGI index and Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange’s ADI index during the first quarter. The exchange is also preparing to create futures on MSCI indices he added.
The international financial exchange serving the region between Western Europe and East Asia, Nasdaq Dubai currently lists shares, derivatives, sukuk (Islamic bonds), conventional bonds and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS).
The majority shareholder of Nasdaq Dubai is Dubai Financial Market with a two-thirds stake, while Borse Dubai owns one third of the shares. The regulator of Nasdaq Dubai is the Dubai Financial Services Authority.-TradeArabia News Service
