Dubai bourse trading value climbs 22% to AED162 billion in 2026

Key Points

1. Dubai Financial Market traded AED162 billion so far in 2026, a 22 per cent increase.
2. Foreign investors made up 72 per cent of 55,460 new registrations over nine months.
3. Profit fell year-on-year because 2025 included a one-off AED461.9 million property sale gain.

The latest:

Trading on the Dubai Financial Market reached AED162 billion so far in 2026, a 22 per cent rise, the exchange said. Average daily traded value climbed 25 per cent to AED883 million and the average number of daily trades rose 26 per cent to roughly 17,200 for the nine months to September 30. Market capitalisation stood at AED993 billion at the end of September.

Details:

• The headline figure: The DFM put total traded value at AED162 billion so far in 2026, up 22 per cent. The exchange tied the increase to higher daily activity rather than a single large transaction, with turnover and trade counts both rising at a similar pace over the nine-month period.
• Daily activity: Average daily traded value rose 25 per cent to AED883 million for the nine months ending September 30, 2026, according to the exchange. The average daily number of trades increased 26 per cent to approximately 17,200, a faster rate of growth than the value measure.
• The index lagged: Despite the jump in turnover, the DFM General Index closed September at 5,960.54 points, down 1.4 per cent since the start of the year. Market capitalisation was AED993 billion at the end of the same month, the exchange said.
• Chairman’s framing: DFM Chairman Helal Saeed Al Marri said the 22 per cent growth reflects “sustained investor engagement and the growing depth of Dubai’s capital markets,” which he described as underpinned by continued international investor interest.
• New investors: The market attracted 55,460 new investors during the first nine months of 2026, bringing the total investor base above 1.3 million. International investors accounted for 72 per cent of those new registrations, the exchange said, without breaking the figure down by country of origin.
• Revenue down: Total consolidated revenue reached AED753.2 million in the first nine months of 2026, against AED1.1 billion in the same period of 2025. The 2025 comparison included one-off income of AED461.9 million from the sale of an investment property.
• Revenue mix: Of this year’s figure, AED511.2 million came from operating income and AED242 million from investment returns and other income, according to the exchange, which did not separate trading fees from other operating lines.
• The bottom line: Net profit before tax stood at AED586.4 million for the nine-month period, compared with AED930.8 million a year earlier. The gap is close in scale to the one-off property income booked in 2025, which was not repeated this year.

Between the lines:

The two headline numbers point in opposite directions: turnover, daily trades and new registrations all grew by more than 20 per cent, while the benchmark index slipped 1.4 per cent. That combination suggests volume growth driven by participation rather than rising prices. On the earnings side, stripping out the AED461.9 million one-off from 2025 narrows most of the year-on-year decline in both revenue and pre-tax profit.

What’s next

The DFM’s full-year 2026 results will show whether the 22 per cent turnover growth held through the fourth quarter, and whether the General Index recovered its 1.4 per cent year-to-date decline.