RIYADH: Foreign investors poured $1.6 billion into the Saudi Exchange during the second quarter of this year, the highest net buying in the Gulf Cooperation Council, according to an analysis.
In its latest report, Kamco Invest revealed that the Kingdom was the only market in the GCC to register net foreign buying during the second quarter, while all the other exchanges recorded net selling by foreign investors.
The report said the key factors affecting foreign investment flows in the region included geopolitical conflicts, disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz that affected oil price movements, global interest rate trends, and seasonal factors such as Eid holidays, which reduced market activity and trading volumes.
The steady performance of the Saudi Exchange comes as the Kingdom continues to attract global capital, buoyed by strong corporate earnings and ongoing economic reforms. The government aims to attract $100 billion in annual foreign direct investment by 2030.
“The quarterly data on trading activity on GCC exchanges showed all the exchanges recorded foreigners as net sellers during the second quarter of 2026, barring Saudi Arabia, which showed foreigners as net buyers to the tune of $1.6 billion during the quarter, partially offsetting the overall net sales,” said Kamco Invest.
The report also said the monthly trading trend, excluding Bahrain due to the unavailability of data, showed that Saudi Arabia recorded consistent net foreign buying throughout all three months of the second quarter of 2026. In contrast, the Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman exchanges experienced consistent net selling across each of the three months during the quarter.
Wider GCC picture
Foreign investors, including institutional and retail investors, turned net sellers across GCC stock markets in the second quarter of 2026, recording net sales of $298.3 million, following net purchases of $1.5 billion in the first quarter, according to Kamco Invest.
Dubai witnessed the heaviest foreign selling in the second quarter at $641.5 million, followed by Kuwait at $480.3 million, Qatar at $375.4 million, and Abu Dhabi at $187.3 million.
In Oman, net selling stood at $161.3 million, while Bahrain recorded $3.1 million.
For the first half of 2026, foreign investors still recorded net buying of $1.2 billion across the GCC, though this represented an 83.1 percent year-on-year decline compared with the first half of 2025.
Total trading activity
According to the report, aggregate trading volume across GCC stock markets declined by 21.7 percent quarter on quarter to 64 billion shares in the second quarter.
Kuwait was the only market to record higher trading volumes, rising 41.9 percent quarter on quarter to 17.2 billion shares.
Abu Dhabi witnessed the sharpest decline in trading volume, falling 41.8 percent quarter on quarter, followed by Oman at 36.3 percent and Dubai at 34.9 percent.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar also reported lower trading volumes, declining by 24.3 percent and 18.9 percent, respectively.
Despite the drop in volumes, aggregate trading value across the GCC increased by 8.8 percent quarter on quarter to $157.7 billion in the second quarter.
Saudi Arabia recorded a notable increase, with the value of shares traded rising from $77.5 billion in the first quarter of 2026 to $86.4 billion in the second quarter.
Five Saudi-listed companies ranked among the top 10 most actively traded GCC stocks by value in the second quarter. The aggregate trading value of these top 10 stocks reached $36.2 billion, accounting for 23.1 percent of the total value traded across GCC exchanges.
Al Rajhi Bank topped the list with $6.9 billion in trading value, followed by Saudi Arabian Oil Co., also known as Saudi Aramco, and Emaar Properties at about $6 billion each.
