2024 is set to be Dubai International Financial Center’s (DIFC) “busiest year ever,” Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) CEO Ian Johnston tells Bloomberg, saying the financial center will see a “record number of firms” registering in 2024. The financial hub is “already about 50% ahead” of its record registrations last year, which saw the DFSA issue over 112 financial services licenses.

Another Chinese lender will soon set up shop in DIFC, Johnston also said, without disclosing the name of the Chinese bank, marking the fifth to establish a presence in the business center. “Of the 29 globally systemically important banks in the world, we have 27 doing business in DIFC,” Johnston said.

REFRESHER- DFSA saw a 125% y-o-y uptick in registrations by hedge fund managers in 2023 and expects continued strong interest from global hedge funds looking to set up shop in DIFC, Johnston said in February. DIFC company registrations jumped 34% y-o-y, with 1.4k firms registering to set up shop in the freezone. The record growth in registrations was “supported by both financial and innovation companies and non-financial companies.”

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Asian markets are in the green this morning as traders in Korea and Japan returned from a holiday long weekend. The sole exception is the Hang Seng. US stock futures were largely unchanged in overnight trading, while European futures are doing a bit better, pointing to a comfortable start to the trading day.

TASI

12,373

0.0% (YTD: +3.4%)

MSCI Tadawul 30

1,549

-0.2% (YTD: -0.1%)

NomuC

26,791

0% (YTD: +9.2%)

USD : SAR (SAMA)

3.75 Sell

3.75 Buy

Interest rates

6% repo

5.5% reverse repo

EGX30

26,114

+3.3% (YTD: +4.9%)

ADX

9,035

0.0% (YTD: -5.7%)

DFM

4,156

+0.3% (YTD: +2.4%)

S&P 500

5,181

+1.0% (YTD: +8.6%)

FTSE 100

8,213

+0.5% (YTD: +6.2%)

Euro Stoxx 50

4,957

+0.7% (YTD: +9.6%)

Brent crude

USD 83.46

+0.6%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 2.19

+2.5%

Gold

USD 2,331.20

+1.0%

BTC

USD 63,476.20

-0.6% (YTD: +50.1%)

THE CLOSING BELL: TADAWUL-

The TASI closed flat yesterday on turnover of SAR 7.4 bn. The index is up 3.4% YTD.

In the green: Bupa Arabia (+10%), MedGulf (+10%) and AlRajhi Takaful (+9.9%).

In the red: Solutions (-4.5%), Saudi Cable (-3.6%) and GIG (-3%).

THE CLOSING BELL: NOMU-

The NomuC closed flat yesterday on turnover of SAR 39.3 mn. The index is up 9.2% YTD.

In the green: Academy of Learning (+6.3%), Ghida Alsultan (+4.7%) and Ladun (+4.4%).

In the red: Horizon Food (-9.8%), Future Care (-7.6%) and Raoom (-6.9%)

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