ADX introduces 'Trade at Last' session for trading securities at their closing price

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) will introduce on 4 March 2021 a “Trade at Last” session, enabling investors to trade ADX-listed securities at their closing price during a 5-minute period at the end of the trading day. The initiative is part of the exchange’s ‘ADX One’ strategy to widen the range of its services and products and increase market liquidity.

The mechanism, which is active between 1.55pm and 2pm, allows market participants to adjust any imbalances they may have following the closing auction. Market makers and liquidity providers may use “Trade at Last” to net their positions and fund managers will benefit from being able to trade at prices used for their end-of-day published net asset value (NAV).

Abdullah Salem Al Neaimi, acting deputy chief executive of Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange said: “ADX’s role is to ensure a seamless connection between investors and issuers in a vibrant marketplace. We are rolling out a series of initiatives to enhance liquidity and make trading easy and convenient, in line with global best practice. The closing auction is a significant liquidity event in the trading cycle and Trade at Last will provide market participants with greater flexibility to achieve their tactical aims.”

In the next three years, ADX plans to grow market capitalisation to more than Dh1.5 billion through its new ‘ADX One’ strategy, which includes introducing new products and services and accelerating digital transformation to enhance the customer journey.

Liquidity on the ADX increased significantly in 2020, with the value of traded securities rising by 28 per cent to Dh72.8 billion. The number of foreign investors on ADX grew by 38 per cent in 2020 while the value of shares they traded rose by 6.5 per cent to Dh 62.6 billion. The value of securities traded by institutions rose 35.6 per cent to Dh 111.1 billion last year. Also in 2020, the actual and active daily investors who executed trades on the exchange increased to 34 per cent compared to the year before.

— business@khaleejtimes.com