CME trading surges in Middle East as Gulf activity heats up

CME Group is seeing a massive upswing in trading from the Middle East, with hedge funds pouring into Dubai and Abu Dhabi and pushing activity to new highs.

CME’s average daily volume from the region jumped 16% this year, hitting 193,000 contracts per day, while hedge fund trading itself has surged by about 30%, according to data released by the exchange on Wednesday.

Julie Winkler, CME’s chief commercial officer, called the hedge‑fund rush “pretty consequential,” saying the Middle East has become “our fastest‑growing segment by far.” Julie added that CME’s expansion follows its clients’ footprints, as more funds establish bases in the Gulf to be closer to the region’s sovereign wealth funds.

The Middle East still represents only a single‑digit percentage of CME’s global trading activity, roughly the same as Hong Kong, but the momentum is what matters.

CME is embedding itself deeper in the region, setting up a business‑development officer inside the Gulf Mercantile Exchange (GME) office in Dubai, where it already owns%.

Hedge funds move operations to the Gulf

Wall Street names are showing up fast. Davidson Kempner, managing $37 billion, just opened an office in Abu Dhabi, joining firms like Marshall Wace and Brevan Howard, the latter already running a team of more than 100 staff there. Their logic is simple: being on the ground gets them closer to cash‑rich funds that control hundreds of billions, instead of sending teams back and forth from London or New York.

The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) said in July that it hosts 85 hedge funds, a% jump from last year, with 69 managing over $1 billion each. The Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) doesn’t publish data, but it did admit to a surge in fund registrations less than two months ago.

Julie said the region’s appeal comes from a combination of a tax‑friendly setup, an attractive lifestyle, and a timezone that connects Asian, European, and U.S. trading hours. She added, “They’re wanting to build out those operations to a level that is pretty significant. We’re seeing complete pods of some of these hedge funds moving to the region.”

CME’s leadership views this as a natural extension of its customer strategy. “Both the asset management and the hedge funds flowing into Dubai were critical,” Julie said, adding that CME is simply going where its trading community already operates.

Meanwhile, Gulf stock markets strengthened on Tuesday, buoyed by expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve, under President Donald Trump’s administration, will cut rates in the coming months.

Traders are pricing a 99% chance of a 25‑basis‑point cut in October and a 94% chance of another in December. Those moves matter in the Gulf, where most currencies remain pegged to the U.S. dollar, making Fed policy a local event.

Dubai’s DFM index rose 1.4%, lifted by a 3% gain in Emaar Properties and a 3.8% rally in Emirates NBD. The bank is in advanced talks to buy a stake in India’s RBL Bank, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the deal. Anyway, Abu Dhabi’s FTFADGI index surged by 0.1%, while Saudi Arabia’s TASI index ended the day flat.

CME Group’s own stock has surged by 17% year-to-date, beating both Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)’s 6.3% and the Nasdaq’s 15% surge.

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