Dubai - Mubasher: Nasdaq Dubai on Wednesday announced launching futures trading for 12 Saudi-listed companies including major ones such as the Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), Saudi Kayan Petrochemical, and foodstuffs maker Almarai.

The list of Saudi firms, whose combined market capitalisation reaches SAR 794 billion ($212 billion), also includes Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden), Etihad Etisalat Co (Mobily), Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Company (Petro Rabigh), Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), Altayyar Travel Group, Al Rajhi Bank, Alinma Bank, Saudi Cement Company, and Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Development Company.

The launch of these futures will help increase the appeal of regional markets to international investors, NASDAQ Dubai said in a statement.

“The launch of Saudi equity futures in Dubai is a milestone for investors that creates new opportunities for them to play an active role in the region’s dynamic economy,” stated Essa Kazim, governor of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) governor and chairman of the Dubai Financial Market (DFM).

The futures could be “used as tools for hedging existing positions or taking a view on market movements, with leverage to maximise the outcome of their trades. Investors can make gains from futures whether the underlying share prices rise or fall,” the bourse further explained.

Meanwhile, Nasdaq Dubai’s chairman Abdul Wahed Al Fahim noted that Nasdaq Dubai’s Saudi equity futures market was built on collaboration with various regional and international market participants and that it relied on “extensive analysis of investors’ needs.”