Forex trading in the United Arab Emirates: market review and top online brokers
The United Arab Emirates is an elected constitutional monarchy consisting of seven emirates located in the northeast of the Arabian Peninsula. Today, the UAE is one of the largest and most important financial centers in the Middle East and the entire Gulf region: within just 50 years, the state transformed from a desert into a rich futuristic oasis. Due to its open economy, focus on the financial sector, and huge oil reserves, the UAE is one of the richest countries in the region and in the world.
Even though Abu Dhabi is the capital, Dubai became the most populous city and a business, transport, and financial center. It is interesting to note that almost 90% of UAE residents are expats from South Asia, Europe, North and South America, and Australia. The UAE is one of the countries with the highest net migration rates in the world. A high percentage of the population is young, urban, and speaks both English and the local dialect of Arabic.
A strong economy and market infrastructure are a result of the favorable business environment and the well-off local population. The UAE and Dubai in particular are hotspots for many financial markets including Forex.
Forex trading is becoming increasingly popular in the United Arab Emirates. In particular, Dubai is the most populated city in the country, and a big number of people there work for reputable companies and have a high income, therefore looking for genuine investment opportunities that could increase their incomes even further.
Forex trading in the United Arab Emirates
Clients of the UAE Forex brokers have access to some of the most favorable conditions for trading, as well as impeccable levels of reliability. A number of reputable organizations regulate the brokerage industry in the UAE. While there are practically no restrictions on the activity, trading Forex is legal in the country.
For traders, Forex markets represent a great opportunity. In the rest of the Middle East, Forex income is subject to capital gains tax, but to facilitate the growth of the currency market within the region, the UAE government eliminated all taxes on Forex profits.
Generally, Forex brokers offer their clients educational materials and almost all of them provide Social trading feature – a way to subscribe and copy other traders’ actions, thus saving a beginner a great deal of time to follow market news, and make actual deals as it can be done automatically. Copying successful traders is an excellent alternative trading strategy. Copy trading allows a beginning trader to continuously improve and develop his trading strategy allowing it to grow professionally.
To boost their clients’ financial results, brokers provide a variety of Forex bonus systems, deposit and rebate bonuses being the most popular. To activate a deposit bonus, you need to fund your account and depending on the broker and the bonus terms, you can receive up to 100% of your deposit. This is an excellent opportunity for beginners to test different trading strategies with bonus money, and for experienced traders, this is an excellent way to trade for larger amounts.
A rebate bonus is a return of the spread part to a trader, regardless of the transaction result. For traders working with large amounts, a rebate can reach hundreds of dollars per month. Hot Forex provides a two-dollar-per-lot cash rebate to the trader’s account. The maximum grant that can be received is $8000.
Therefore, if you also want to start Forex trading in the UAE, you should start with search of the best-suited broker for you. All the brokers reviewed in the article have the lowest spreads in the market, offer their clients both major currency pairs and exotic ones, and provide bonuses and Copy trading solutions discussed above.
XM Group is known as a reputable international broker due to its compliance with regulators and high demand from traders. TXM offers more than 50 currency pairs at excellent conditions, both major and minor ones, with spreads starting at 0.6 pips.
XM Group’s traders have access to a wide range of instruments besides Forex, such as metals, energy, and Cryptocurrency. Furthermore, the broker provides the opportunity to trade stocks of the world’s largest companies.
For new traders, the brokerage accrues an automatic first deposit bonus of up to $5000. This gives traders a chance to maximize their profits providing more capital to start trading.
Online commodity trading in the UAE
Commodity trading gives an opportunity to diversify a portfolio beyond traditional securities. It refers to the buying and selling of physical assets including gold, silver, oil, wheat, or sugar, or speculating on their price movements with CFDs. These commodities form the cornerstones of the global economy and are traded on exchanges across the world.
Gas and oil trading in UAE
The UAE is a member of OPEC, the world’s largest oil exporters organization, so the major economic activity of the Emirates is the extraction and export of hydrocarbon raw materials: it produces about 2.2 million barrels of oil annually. Natural gas reserves are estimated at approximately 5,600 billion cubic meters. Oil reserves are estimated at 200 billion barrels. At present, oil and gas account for 30% of the UAE’s GDP.
The global oil demand has been growing for more than a century. Throughout the world, the level of development of a country is directly correlated with its energy consumption, and oil remains the most efficient and versatile carrier of this energy. Trading of financial instruments on oil remains one of the safer avenues of trading: in addition to standing the test of time, it is producing tangible returns.
Below we discuss how and with what financial instruments traders can benefit from the oil and gas industry.
Stocks: One of the simplest ways to get into the oil market is by purchasing shares or the CFDs of energy companies. These stocks usually rise with the price of oil, meaning that you will get a chance for steady profit from the shares’ value increase.
ETF: Oil ETFs are traded on the stock exchange in the same way as company shares. Purchasing ETFs on oil does not require large initial funds, making it a good choice for new traders or for those looking to diversify their portfolios.
Futures: You can benefit from the oil and gas industry by trading oil and gas contracts. When you get a contract, you indicate that you plan to sell a portion of your stake in oil commodities by a certain date. Essentially, other traders are betting on how much oil and gas prices will rise in the future. If the price of oil and gas rises, then you win.
OANDA – a reputable US-originated broker with millions of clients around the world and long history of operations – for more than 2 decades of work earned itself a stellar reputation among users, compiling with a slew of global regulators at the same time.
The broker is an excellent choice for new traders since there are demo accounts available together with detailed educational materials and market insights, and no minimum deposit requirement. With minimal commissions and spreads, a variety of trading instruments including Forex, Indices, Commodities, and Crypto including Bitcoin and Ether, advanced trading platforms, and mobile apps, there are also Forex bonuses of up to $1000 on your first deposit.
With OANDA, you can trade Brent oil with OANDA fxTrade, MT4, and Mobile. OANDA’s competitive spreads and fast, reliable execution ensures a superb crude oil trading experience.
Gold trading in UAE
Trading in the main precious metal is often considered only as long-term ultra-reliable instruments. Such a hardy asset uniquely protects traders and investors from steadily rising inflation, which inevitably affects the purchasing power of all currencies.
Experts name the following factors that change gold value:
- Global economic crisis affecting all developed countries;
- The emergence of a fundamentally new currency tied to the gold standard;
- Large-scale wars, political collapses, and natural disasters can devalue the national currencies of large states;
- New explored large gold deposits, for example, in the oceans
Gold does not lose its position as one of the leading financial instruments, although formally the yellow metal has not been synonymous with money for decades: since the abolition of the gold standard in 1971, no currency has been linked to the price of gold. But a state’s gold reserves remain an essential factor in its power.
However, we take into account that the volume of world gold production is falling, and the demand for the precious metal (not only from financial institutions, but also from the aviation, space, and jewelry industries, as well as medicine), on the contrary, continues to grow, we can conclude that the prospects for growth in gold prices are quite favorable, and trading and investment in gold will continue to be profitable.
HF Markets is a reliable broker that offers some of the best possible conditions even for sophisticated traders. It offers a variety of account types, trading software, and tools to make it easy for individuals to trade Forex and commodities online. In particular, HF Markets provides low transaction costs and flexible leverage on Forex Gold trading. You can find more information about this trading instrument in our article.
Moreover, HF Markets is a one-stop broker for all your trading needs, whether you are new to trading or have years of experience. It has an HFcopy – Copy Trading feature where anyone can join as a follower or as a pro trading strategy provider.
In terms of regulation, HF Markets holds licenses from various regulators, including local DIFC (Dubai), FCA (UK), CySEC (Europe), FSCA (South Africa), and SFSA (Seychelles).
Cryptocurrency trading in the UAE
Emirates authorities strive to become the world’s leading financial center in the world: the government welcomes all financial innovations and makes efforts to keep up with the times. As such, Cryptocurrency benefits simply couldn’t be ignored by Dubai authorities.
Crypto assets are regulated by local acts, for example, in the free zone of ADGM (Abu Dhabi Global Market) in order to regulate Cryptocurrencies, the authorized body – Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) – on February 24, 2020, published the Guidance on activities in the field of virtual assets in the territory of ADGM (Guidance – Regulation of Virtual Asset Activities in ADGM). In fact, this is currently the only detailed guide devoted to Cryptocurrencies in the UAE.
Cryptocurrency has been the fastest-growing financial market over the past few years. Traders continue to make substantial profits via Cryptocurrencies, which is why it is gaining popularity at a rapid pace. Today, anyone can benefit from the booming Cryptocurrency market and become a part of the growing community of Crypto enthusiasts by trading or investing.
AvaTrade is a broker regulated across six jurisdictions, including Abu Dhabi Global Market Authorities Financial Services Regulatory Authority (ADGM). AvaTrade was among the first to offer Cryptocurrency trading such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, and other digital assets.
AvaTrade has several platforms, both automated and manual. The broker offers its own solution, several third-party Copy trading platforms including ZuluTrade, DupliTrade as well as MetaTrader 4 (MT4) (and in some places MT5). In addition to web platforms with AvaTrade, you can also use a mobile app. The advantages of trading using a mobile app are obvious. With an Internet connection and a mobile software package, the user can carry out trading operations from any corner of the globe.
As already mentioned, AvaTrade does provide a Copy Trading feature – your chance to earn some passive income just by automatically following the moves of more experienced traders.
Top Forex brokers in the United Arab Emirates
The Forex market in the United Arab Emirates is quickly expanding, with a wide range of trading instruments available from various Forex brokers. As a result, it’s essential to get to know yours before you start trading. Each Forex broker has its own set of guidelines and regulations.
There are various factors to consider when choosing a Forex broker, including its reputation among traders, safety and trustworthiness, regulations, payment system convenience, variety of trading platforms, and so on.
Here is a list of the finest Forex brokers in the UAE, with the best conditions and security:
OANDA in the UAE
OANDA is a well-known broker for traders of all levels. OANDA offers trading in over 100 instruments, including currency pairs, indices, commodities, bonds, and metals. There are 9 base currencies available in the company: EUR, GBP, CHF, USD, CAD, AUD, JPY, HKD, and SGD.
Globally, OANDA offers three account types: demo, Standard, and Advanced Trader, which makes the broker a fine fit for both new and seasoned traders. Moreover, it requires no minimum deposit to open an account with OANDA, but new traders who top up their accounts get a welcome bonus of up to $1000.
XM Group in the UAE
XM Group is one of the best brokers for CFDs and Forex trading, chosen by more than 1.5 million clients in 196 countries. Its tools and accounts are suitable for both beginners and experienced traders. Furthermore, a demo account is available for clients who wish to test the platform or new strategies. The broker offers auto-trading, fast order execution, multiple order types, and no hidden commissions.
By trading with a real account through XM brokerage, you can take advantage of the highest bonuses. The deposit bonus is particularly noteworthy, as up to $5,000 is available in addition to your investment. This will give you the opportunity to trade more confidently and profitably.
The support is available 24/5. It is considered safe to trade Forex and CFDs with XM Forex since it is regulated by many regulatory bodies.
HF Markets in the UAE
HF Markets acquired a license from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) on December 12, 2018. The license serves as a significant advantage for the company’s reputation and makes it trustworthy in the eyes of local traders.
HF Markets offers its clients 1200 instruments, including Forex pairs, energies, indices, ETFs, metals, shares, bonds, and stocks DMA. Besides MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, the broker offers a copy-trading network HFcopy.
HF Markets offers new and existing traders the chance to jumpstart their trading journey with one of its generous bonus programs among which is a 100% Supercharged bonus. Bonus, which combines doubling of deposits and rebates. Traders will also receive an additional rebate of two dollars per lot. The maximum cumulative rebate that can be received is $8000.
AvaTrade in the UAE
AvaTrade offers competitive spreads and a list of assets that currently exceeds 1250, such as currency pairs, Cryptocurrencies, stocks, indices, and commodities.
The broker offers traders several platforms, each tailored to traders of varying skills and experience levels. There is no charge for deposits and withdrawals. Various free courses, videos, and market analyses are offered on a dedicated educational and research site. AvaTrade is regulated in six jurisdictions and became available in the UAE in 2021.
Furthermore, AvaTrade offers its customers the service of Copy trading. If you wish to get into the financial markets but lack the knowledge, confidence, or time to do the necessary research and monitor the markets, the service may be a perfect solution. But Copy trading is not just for beginners, expert traders also use it to conduct market research and save time.
Additionally, a feature that is a testament to the credibility of these regulated international brokers is that you can open a free demo account with each of them before you begin trading. If you want to compare the different platforms to see if they are suitable for your trading needs, you can register with several of them.
For instance, you can use the bonuses the brokers provide to fund your market research. With some brokers, you can trade on your while using the Copy Trading feature with others: it will encourage you to keep trading and increase your chances of earning passive income.
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Top Forex brokers in the United Arab Emirates - FAQ