Exchange rings with the sounds of wedding bell - The National Newspaper

Only one bell will ring at the start of trade in Dubai this morning as investors buy and sell shares from a single platform for the first time, ending the separate existence of the emirate’s two bourses.

Stock pickers hoping for a sudden surge in trading volumes to lift the markets from their malaise may be disappointed but the consolidation of the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and NASDAQ Dubai should at least help the international visibility of local publicly traded companies, analysts say.

It will also usher in some changes to the way NASDAQ Dubai shares are distributed to investors. Before the bourses came together, brokers who were registered to trade on NASDAQ allocated the shares to individual clients.