Foreign Investors Net USD 1.6 Billion in Saudi Exchange in Q2 2026
The Saudi Exchange was the Gulf's only market to record net foreign buying in Q2 2026 as regional peers posted outflows.
The Saudi Exchange attracted USD 1.6 billion in net foreign investment during the second quarter of 2026, making it the only stock market in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to record net foreign buying during the period, according to Kamco Invest.
The investment firm said Saudi Arabia posted consistent net foreign buying throughout the quarter, while Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain all recorded net foreign selling.
Across the GCC, foreign investors became net sellers of USD 298.3 million in Q2 2026, reversing the USD 1.5 billion in net purchases recorded during the previous quarter. For the first half of the year, however, foreign investors remained net buyers of USD 1.2 billion, although that marked an 83.1% year-on-year decline.
Kamco Invest attributed regional investment trends to geopolitical tensions, disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz that affected oil prices, global interest rate movements and seasonal factors such as the Eid holidays, which reduced trading activity.
While total trading volumes across GCC markets fell 21.7% quarter-on-quarter to 64 billion shares, the total value of traded shares rose 8.8% to USD 157.7 billion. In Saudi Arabia, traded value increased from USD 77.5 billion in the first quarter to USD 86.4 billion in the second.
Five Saudi-listed companies ranked among the GCC's 10 most actively traded stocks by value. Al Rajhi Bank topped the list with USD 6.9 billion in traded shares, followed by Saudi Aramco and Emaar Properties, each at around USD 6 billion.
