Foreign Investor Trades Surge To AED 70 Billion On ADX In First Quarter Of 2025

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) experienced a robust start in the first quarter of 2025, showing improved performance compared to the same timeframe in 2024. This growth was largely due to increased liquidity and investment activities, especially from foreign and institutional investors.

Foreign investors significantly boosted their trading activities on ADX. The value of their trades, both buying and selling, surged by approximately 62.2 percent, reaching around AED69.79 billion in Q1 2025, up from AED43.03 billion in Q1 2024. This indicates a growing interest from international investors.

Net investments from foreign entities saw a remarkable increase of 151 percent, rising from about AED3.4 billion to over AED8.5 billion. This substantial growth reflects the increasing confidence that international investors have in the UAE market.

The contribution of foreign investors to the total trading value also rose significantly. It climbed to 42 percent in Q1 2025, up from 31 percent during the same period in 2024, marking an increase of 11 percentage points.

Market capitalisation at ADX grew by approximately 3.2 percent, surpassing AED2.93 trillion at the end of Q1 2025 compared to AED2.84 trillion at the end of Q1 2024. This rise underscores the market's expanding value.

Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) gained notable traction as well, with their market value increasing by 109 percent to approximately AED1.64 billion from AED784.4 million. This highlights a growing investor interest in ETFs as an asset class.

Liquidity and Trading Volume

The overall trading value on ADX increased by nearly 21 percent, reaching AED83.3 billion in Q1 2025 compared to AED68.95 billion in Q1 2024. The traded volume also rose by 39 percent to over 22.45 billion shares from 16.11 billion shares during this period.

The number of executed trades saw a significant rise as well, increasing by around 41 percent to reach 1.35 million trades, up from 961,800 trades during the same comparison period.

Institutional Investors' Activity

Institutional investors were active participants in this growth trend too, recording a trading value increase of about 22 percent (buy and sell). Their trading reached over AED134.9 billion in Q1 2025 compared to around AED110.6 billion during the same period last year.

This strong performance by ADX reflects its growing appeal among both foreign and institutional investors, showcasing its potential as a key player in the regional financial markets.

With inputs from WAM