Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) today unveiled its plans to launch MSCI® Equity Index Futures contracts on ICE Futures Abu Dhabi on February 24, 2025, subject to regulatory review.

This launches a new asset class for trading at ICE Futures Abu Dhabi and will include: Micro MSCI GCC Countries Index Futures, Micro MSCI Qatar Index Futures, Micro MSCI UAE Index Futures and Micro MSCI India Index Futures. The contracts, all denominated in US dollars, will provide investors with a way to access Gulf and Indian equity markets and manage equity risk in the region.

“We are excited to team up with ICE to introduce equity index futures, leveraging MSCI’s trusted index methodologies and ICE’s leading trading infrastructure,” said George Harrington, Managing Director, MSCI. “This collaboration marks an important step forward in providing the market with innovative tools for equity trading and underscores our commitment to growing markets in the Middle East.”

“ICE is building on its energy offering on ICE Futures Abu Dhabi to serve investor demand for transparent, standardized, and flexible access to regional Gulf equity markets,” said Gary King, President of ICE Futures Abu Dhabi. “With this offering tailored for the Gulf region, ICE is connecting local and global investors, providing enhanced opportunities for strategic trading and risk management in equity markets and broadening ICE Futures Abu Dhabi to this new asset class.”

ICE is already home to the most liquid markets to trade the benchmark MSCI ACWI, MSCI EAFE, MSCI Emerging Markets, MSCI ESG and MSCI Climate indexes with ICE accounting for over 70% of all MSCI Futures trading by volume. In 2024, average daily volume for ICE’s MSCI complex was equal to an estimated $13.6 billion of notional value.