AED70 billion foreign trades on ADX in Q1; net investments surge 151 %

Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) posted strong performance in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, driven by significant increases in liquidity and investment activity, particularly from foreign and institutional investors.

According to ADX data, the value of foreign investor trades (buy and sell) rose by approximately 62.2 percent to around AED69.79 billion in Q1 2025, up from AED43.03 billion in Q1 2024.

Foreign net investment recorded a substantial growth of 151 percent, increasing from about AED3.4 billion to over AED8.5 billion, reflecting growing confidence of international investors in the UAE market.

The contribution of foreign investors to total trading value grew to 42 percent in Q1 2025, up from 31 percent in the same period of 2024, marking an 11-percentage-point increase.

The market capitalisation rose by approximately 3.2 percent to exceed AED2.93 trillion at the end of Q1 2025, compared to AED2.84 trillion at the end of Q1 2024.

Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) witnessed a notable increase, with market value rising by 109 percent to approximately AED1.64 billion, compared to AED784.4 million, highlighting growing investor interest in this asset class.

In terms of liquidity, the total trading value grew by nearly 21 percent to AED83.3 billion in Q1 2025, compared to AED68.95 billion in Q1 2024. The traded volume rose by 39 percent to over 22.45 billion shares from 16.11 billion shares, while the number of executed trades increased by around 41 percent to reach 1.35 million, up from 961,800 trades in the same comparison period.

Institutional investors also recorded a 22 percent increase in trading value (buy and sell), reaching over AED134.9 billion in Q1 2025, compared to around AED110.6 billion in the same period last year.