DFM traded value rises 22 percent to $44.11 billion in nine months
Foreign investors drove more than half of all trading on the Dubai Financial Market in the first nine months of 2026, as total traded value climbed 22% year on year to AED162 billion ($44.11 billion), the exchange said.
Average daily traded value rose 25% to AED883 million and average daily trades increased 26% to about 17,200, DFM reported. Foreign investors accounted for 51% of trading activity and 72% of the 55,460 new investors registered in the period, taking the total investor base past 1.3 million. Institutional investors contributed 73% of traded value, up from 70% a year earlier, while institutional ownership reached 86.5% of market capitalisation and foreign ownership 19%.
H.E. Helal Saeed Al Marri, Chairman of DFM, said the 22 percent growth in total traded value during the first nine months of 2026 reflected sustained investor engagement and the growing depth of Dubai's capital markets, underpinned by Dubai's economic fundamentals, its expanding financial ecosystem and continued international investor interest.
Profit was lower than a year earlier. Net profit before tax came to AED586.4 million ($159.67 million), against AED930.8 million in the same period of 2025, which included a one-off AED461.9 million gain from the sale of an investment property. Total consolidated revenue was AED753.2 million, of which AED511.2 million was operating income and AED242 million investment returns and other income. EBITDA reached AED642 million, an 85.2% margin, while expenses excluding tax edged up to AED166.8 million from AED162.6 million.
Market capitalisation stood at AED993 billion at the end of September, with the DFM General Index at 5,960.54 points, down 1.4% since the start of the year. In the third quarter, revenue was AED196.2 million and net profit before tax AED143.2 million, both slightly below the same quarter of 2025.
DFM also pushed deeper into digital distribution. It handled retail subscriptions to the UAE Ministry of Finance's first Retail Sukuk through its own platform and apps, with more than 18,000 investors subscribing before the sukuk listed on Nasdaq Dubai on July 2, 2026. In September, investors on the baraka app gained the ability to buy DFM-listed shares directly in dirhams, and EFG Hermes launched fully digital onboarding through its EFG Hermes ONE app with DFM and Dubai CSD, letting investors obtain an investor number and open a trading account on a phone.
Hamed Ali, CEO of DFM and Nasdaq Dubai, said the results reflected continued progress against strategic priorities, with deeper liquidity, broader participation and wider access to the market for investors in the UAE and internationally. He said the investor base now exceeded 1.3 million and that the participation of institutional and international investors reflected confidence in the market and its infrastructure.
