Dubai/Manama, Aug. 1 -- A slight increase in IPO activity marked the second quarter of this year, with two companies listing on Saudi Arabia's Tadawul. Both the UAE's promising pipeline and Tadawul stock exchange's development offer some optimism for the GCC market. Despite this, GCC market activity continues to be slow with only two IPOs on Tadawul in Q2 2019, compared with five in the same quarter last year.

Meanwhile, GCC debt market activity was dominated by sukuk issuances this quarter, including sizeable issuances by the Emirate of Sharjah and Islamic Development Bank Trust Services Limited, raising USD 1billion and USD 1.5billion respectively on Nasdaq Dubai. This debt issuance activity is expected to continue to Saudi Arabia, whi...