Iraq’s stock exchange has seen a rise in the number of shares traded in the first six months of this year compared to the same period in 2010. More than 252 billion shares were traded on the ISX, valued at ID481bn ($400m), up 39 per cent since the same period last year.

Foreign interest in the ISX has also increased. The number of non-Iraqi buys increased by 132 per cent to 55 billion shares worth ID109bn. The non-Iraqi trading volume increased by 155 per cent, with 4 billion shares sold worth ID13bn.

In total, there were 123 trading sessions with more than 70,000 contracts traded electronically, up 111 per cent since the same period last year.