Foreign investors remain net buyers of GCC stock market in first quarter

26/04/2025 04:11 AST

The foreign investors, including institutional and retail investors, were net buyers of GCC stock markets during first quarter (Q1) of 2025 with net buying at $2.8bn as compared to $3bn in net buying 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.

Data for Qatar and Oman showed net selling at $421m and $459.2m for Q1-2025.

The biggest buying was seen in Abu Dhabi with total net buying of $2.3bn followed by Boursa Kuwait also seeing consecutive buying by foreigners that reached $705.6m in Q1-2025, according to a report by Kamco Invest.

Dubai was next with net buying of $343by foreigners followed by Saudi Arabia and Bahrain exchanges with net buy transactions of $252.3m and $23.2m, respectively. The total earnings for Qatari-listed companies witnessed a gain of 8.5 percent year on year (y-o-y) during 2024 to reach $14.1bn as compared to $13bn in 2023.

In terms of Q4-2024 earnings performance, Qatari-listed companies recorded a net profit of $3bn, recording a 20 percent increase from the Q4-2023 net profits of $2.5bn.

The net profits for the GCC Banking sector showed the biggest absolute increase of $5.6bn or 10.3 percent to reach a record high net profit of $60.1bn during 2024 followed by Telecom and Materials sectors with profit growth of $3.5bn and $1.9bn, respectively.

Qatar witnessed net buy trades by foreign investors during January 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.

Meanwhile, 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.

The report further noted that 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 uncertainty related to US trade policies and a forecasted slowdown in the US economy affected investor sentiments in the region.

The Peninsula