Abu Dhabi Shares Witness Highest Overseas Buying Among GCC Peers In First Quarter

The Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange (ADX) witnessed the highest buying by foreign investors among GCC stock markets in the first quarter, a report showed.

According to data from Kamco Invest, overseas investors bought $2.3 billion worth of shares on ADX, followed by Boursa Kuwait at $705.6 million. The Dubai Financial Market witnessed the third-highest buying, with $343 million worth of shares being purchased by foreign investors.

Overall, foreign investors, including institutional and retail investors, were net buyers on GCC stock markets during Q1-2025, with net buying at $2.8 billion as compared to $3.0 billion during Q4-2024.“The trend was positive at the start of the year with consecutive buying seen in the first two months followed by net selling during March-2025,” the report, written by Junaid Ansari, Kamco's Head of Investment Strategy & Research, and Vineetha K. Yeluri, Analyst, said.

The top three were followed by the Saudi and Bahrain exchanges, with net buy transactions of $252.3 million and $23.2 million, respectively. Data for Qatar and Oman showed net selling at $421.0 million and $459.2 for Q1-2025.

The monthly trend showed Boursa Kuwait witnessed consecutive buying by foreigners during the three months of the quarter. Conversely, Saudi Arabia and the UAE recorded net buying by foreign investors during the initial two months, which were succeeded by net sales in March 2025. Recently, Saudi Capital Market Authority (CMA) announced that foreigners can invest in Saudi-listed companies that own real estate in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah.“This move is aimed at attracting foreign capital and providing the necessary liquidity for current and future projects,” the authors wrote. Similarly, Qatar witnessed net buy trades by foreign investors during Jan-2025 followed by net sell trades during the remaining two months.

On the other hand, Oman exchange witnessed net sales by foreign investors during the quarter.“The Muscat Stock Exchange has announced new investment initiatives that involve collaboration with other market exchange platforms, aimed at enhancing liquidity sources across various markets to encourage increased local and international investments,” the report said.

Some of the key factors that affected the flow of foreign money in the region included regional market trends, IPOs, geopolitical issues, economic health of the individual countries and crude oil prices. The quarterly trend in the equity market was skewed towards decliners as six out of seven exchanges reported declines during Q1-2025. The uncertainty related to US trade policies and a forecasted slowdown in the US economy affected investor sentiments in the region.

The US government's consecutive announcements related to imposition of tariffs on US imports and the counter measures from its trading partners affected investor confidence in global economic growth.“The seasonal selling pressure during the Eid Holidays also resulted in a decline in the market. As a result, local investors were net sellers during the quarter and these shares were grabbed by foreign investors resulting in a broad-based net buy trades by the latter,” the report said.

In terms of m-o-m performance, net buying value by foreign investors peaked during February-2025 with aggregate monthly net buying at $2.4 billion. January registered net buying at $833.8 million, while March witnessed a decline with net selling at $518.4 million.“Historical trend for trading by foreigners in GCC listed stocks showed declines merely in one quarter over the last five years. Foreigners bought the most stocks during Q1-2022 with net buy transactions of $11.0 billion, reflecting steep increase in buying mainly in Saudi Arabia and Qatar,” the report said.

In the Saudi market, Saudi investors were net sellers during Q1-2025 at SAR 945.6 million as compared to SAR 4.2 billion in net selling during Q4-2024. However, Saudi Institutions were net buyers of Saudi stocks to the tune of SAR 102.8 million that was more than offset by net sell trades by Saudi retail investors at SAR 1.0 billion. On the other hand, buying was mostly seen in trades by non-GCC foreigners that bought SAR 2.4 billion in net buy trades during the quarter that was partially offset by net sell trades by GCC investors at SAR 1.5 billion.

Trading by GCC investors (Excluding Bahrain due to unavailability of data) in GCC exchanges showed net selling during Q1-2025. During Q1-2025, net sell trades by GCC investors reached $482.3 million, reflecting a decline from the $505.3 million in net sell trades recorded in Q4-2024. Boursa Kuwait witnessed the biggest net buying by GCC investors during Q1-2025 at $56.9 million followed by Dubai exchanges at $12.4 million. On the other hand, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dabi, Qatar and Oman exchanges recorded net sales by GCC investors in Q1-2025 partially offsetting the overall buying by GCC investors.

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