The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) on Sunday introduced equity futures trading as part of its new Futures Trading Platform.

The debut platform has so far attracted 16 companies as launch partners and includes futures contracts on single stocks of some of the most liquid equities listed on DFM, including Emaar Properties, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD, Emaar Development and Emaar Malls, with tenures of one, two and three months.

The platform is expected to increase the range of its contracts, including index-based futures.

There are also plans to add REITs trading and expand DFM’s platforms, as well as attract new companies for listing in the coming period, according to Essa Kazim, chairman of DFM.

“The launch of this new platform is another milestone in DFM’s momentous journey. It underlines our commitment to diversify investment opportunities for DFM’s large and diversified base of local and international investors,” Kazim said.

According to the Futures Industry Association (FIA), the futures trading activity volumes increased by 12 percent to 19.25 billion contracts in 2019.

Senior executives of brokerage firms, technology providers and data providers also welcomed the debut of the platform, citing that it is an important initiative to diversify investment opportunities and attract further investments.

In a statement, the DFM said it intends to expand the equity futures platform and attract more trading members.

(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)

Cleofe.maceda@refinitiv.com

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