RIYADH: Saudi Arabia will soon introduce options trading on single stocks to further boost liquidity in its stock market, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The Middle East’s biggest stock market plans to allow options trading in five to 10 companies initially over the next few weeks, according to the people, who asked to remain unidentified for information privacy.

This move would reflect the last Saudi step towards liberalizing Riyadh’s stock exchange and encouraging participation from foreign investors, according to Bloomberg.

The bourse will start registering more stocks when they meet certain criteria, the people said, while Tadawul did not respond to requests for comments.

Tadawul planned to introduce futures contracts in single stocks, CEO Khalid Al-Hussan said in September 2021. Index futures started trading in Riyadh in August that year.

The Kingdom started opening its stock market to international investors over five years ago, and later started allowing them to buy into initial public offerings.

The Saudi benchmark index has jumped about 11 percent this year, building on a 30 percent gain in 2021. 

Riyadh has led the region in IPOs, and the pipeline for listings is “deeper than ever,” Al-Hussan said after Tadawul surged on its own trading debut in December.