An equity market is defined by the Encyclopedia Britannica as an “organized market for the sale and purchase of securities such as shares, stocks, and bonds.”
They are also called stock exchange, stock market, and — in continental Europe — a bourse.
The last term, however, has become more common in use across the world in recent years.
Now, a country can have only one equity market, or multiple ones.
For example, Saudi Arabia has Tadawul, or the Saudi stock exchange, whose benchmark index is known as TASI.
On the other hand, the UAE has the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) as well as the Abu Dhabi Exchange (ADX), both of which have their own indices.
Here is a comparison between the top equity markets in the Middle East, and how they stack up against a couple of their global counterparts:
