Dubai exchange launches equity futures for U.S., Indian stocks

DUBAI (Reuters) - The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) said on Tuesday it had launched a financial futures product that would let investors trade the prices of five U.S. and 10 Indian stocks.

The Global Single Stock Futures mirror the prices of the underlying stocks, the DGCX said.

The U.S. stocks are Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, JPMorgan and Alphabet Inc, the parent of Google. The Indian stocks include blue chips such as Tata Motors and HDFC Bank.

"Currently, for a United Arab Emirates resident to be able to access the U.S. stocks, one has to open an account with a broker in the respective country and send money to their trading account outside the UAE," the exchange said, adding that its new product would remove the need to transfer funds abroad.

Gaurang Desai, chief executive of the DGCX, said he hoped the product would serve as a bridge to bring local investors into the world of futures and derivatives trading.

Before introducing the single-stock futures on Jan. 15, the exchange already traded Indian stock index futures.

(Reporting by Maha El Dahan; Editing by Andrew Torchia and Katharine Houreld)