ADX adds 30,000 new investors in H1, dividends hit Dh49.9 billion

Foreign investors made up 77% of new registrations during the first half

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Nivetha Dayanand, Assistant Business Editor
ADX adds 30,000 new investors in H1, dividends hit Dh49.9 billion
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Dubai: Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange added more than 30,000 new investors in the first half of 2026, while total dividends distributed through the market rose to Dh49.9 billion and foreign participation remained strong.

New investor registrations increased 7.1% year on year, with foreign investors accounting for 77% of those joining the exchange during the six-month period.

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ADX’s market capitalisation stood at Dh2.8 trillion at the end of June, supported by Dh171 billion in trading value and increased activity across the market.

Total trading volume rose 3.7% from a year earlier to 50.3 billion shares, while average daily traded volume increased 9% to 423 million shares.

Nearly 3.3 million individual trades were completed during the period, representing a 12% year-on-year increase, while market makers increased their contribution by three percentage points to 15% of total traded value.

Foreign investors remain active

International investors accounted for 48% of total trading value during the first half, while UAE nationals increased their share of trading value by six percentage points to 52%.

Institutional investors accounted for 78% of total trading value, with net positive institutional inflows reaching Dh1.4 billion, up 13.7% from the same period last year.

The ADX’s focus remains on building a deeper, more liquid, and more internationally connected market that supports Abu Dhabi’s role as an open, leading, and preferred global economy. In H1 2026, we continued to expand market access, strengthen infrastructure, and introduce innovations and solutions to enable local and international investors to participate in our market more efficiently and in a more timely manner. The results reflect an agile platform designed for resilience, sustainable growth, and long-term value creation.
Abdulla Salem Alnuaimi, Group Chief Executive Officer of the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange Group

The exchange continued to expand access for international institutions during the period, with HSBC becoming its first foreign General Clearing Member alongside First Abu Dhabi Bank.

Morgan Stanley also joined ADX as its first international remote trading participant, giving another global institution direct access to the Abu Dhabi market.

More investment options added

ADX welcomed four new listings during the first half, including two dual-listed exchange-traded funds from the New York Stock Exchange, expanding the investment products available through the Abu Dhabi market.

The exchange also supported rights issues for Sharjah Islamic Bank and Annan Investment Holding.

Cross-border links were expanded through investor roadshows in London and Hong Kong, a Letter of Intent with Borsa Italiana and further additions to the Tabadul network.

The Amman Stock Exchange was integrated into Tabadul, while ADIB Securities became the first UAE bank brokerage to join the network.

ADX also partnered with FINTECH.TV to establish what it said is the first international financial news studio within a stock exchange in the MENA region.

Nivetha Dayanand
Nivetha DayanandAssistant Business Editor
Nivetha Dayanand is Assistant Business Editor at Gulf News, covering aviation, financial markets and commodities. A business and financial journalist with a strong interest in multimedia storytelling, she regularly takes complex financial and economic subjects beyond the written word, producing explainer videos that make them easier for a wider audience to understand. Nivetha has interviewed senior policymakers, business leaders and global financial figures both on and off camera. Her past guests include UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud, a member of the House of Saud and the founder and CEO of KBW Ventures, Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund and Indian ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and N. Chandrababu Naidu. She has also hosted and moderated panels, conferences and awards shows, bringing her newsroom experience to live conversations on business, finance and the economy. An Erasmus Mundus journalism alum, Nivetha is drawn to stories that affect people directly and to reporting that gives a platform to voices that might otherwise go unheard. She was among the first journalists to speak to Petrofac employees in the UAE about unpaid salaries, broke the news of the planned demolition of Dubai’s well-known “Toyota Building”, and helped set the record straight on widely circulated claims that a giant replica of the Moon was coming to Dubai. More recently, her exclusive interview with EDGE Group CEO Hamad Al Marar revealed how the UAE-based defence group deployed its systems along the country’s shore border and established a geofence around the UAE within 48 hours of the February 28 escalation. Prior to joining Gulf News, Nivetha worked at ITP Media, where she helped launch Finance Middle East, a new publication covering the region’s financial sector. Her role spanned reporting and editing, video production, interviews and events. Across print, digital, and video, she focuses on finding the people behind business stories and explaining why those stories matter to the audience reading or watching them.

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