A.SREENIVASA REDDY (ABU DHABI)

Despite a backdrop of global market volatility, the UAE’s stock exchanges — the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) — demonstrated notable resilience in March 2025. While both markets closed the month in negative territory, the overall narrative, as highlighted in Kamco Invest’s Monthly Markets Review, underscores the relative stability of the UAE bourses, supported by strong corporate fundamentals, continued investor confidence, and healthy economic undercurrents. 

According to Kamco Invest, the declines in ADX and DFM were “largely in sync with the downward trend seen across most global and regional equity markets during March”.  Nevertheless, the performance of several key sectors, coupled with strategic initiatives and robust dividend payouts, reflect the underlying strength of the UAE markets. 

ADX

The ADX General Index recorded a 2% monthly decline, ending March at 9,368.81 points. Yet, this contraction came in the context of a broader global correction and should not overshadow the exchange’s solid performance over the longer term.  

Sectoral performance on the exchange was predominantly negative, with eight out of 10 sector indices posting declines, while only two registered gains. Despite the downturn, the utilities and telecommunications offered a bright spot. “The Utilities Index recorded the highest gain, rising 15.5%, driven solely by the performance of Abu Dhabi National Energy Co., the sector’s only constituent, which posted an identical 15.5% increase in share value for the month,” Kamco Invest report said. Telecommunications posted a growth of 1.4%.  

In terms of monthly stock performance, Gulf Cement Company topped the monthly gainers chart with its share price increasing by 37% followed by Abu Dhabi National Takaful and Union Insurance which recorded gains of 31.3% and 26.5%, respectively.

Abu Dhabi National Hotels Co. topped the list of the most active stocks table during the month with 681.9 million traded shares followed by ADNOC Gas and Multiply Group, which traded 607.3 million shares and 578.9 million shares, respectively. In terms of value traded, International Holdings Company topped the list of the most active stocks table during the month with Dh4.2 billion worth of shares traded followed by ADNOC Gas and First Abu Dhabi Bank, which traded Dh2.0 billion and Dh1.5 billion worth of shares, respectively.

DFM

Dubai’s DFM General Index mirrored the regional and global trend, declining by 4.2% to close the month at 5,096.24 points. Still, the exchange’s performance was buoyed by resilience in several sectors and strong trading momentum in select names. 

Seven out of eight sector indices posted declines, while only one sector recorded gain. The Materials Index posted the largest gain of 29.8%, closing at 175.8 points, primarily driven by an identical 29.8% increase in the National Cement Company’s share price. The real estate sector, which has traditionally been a bellwether for DFM, also demonstrated a relatively modest drop of 1.6%. 

National Cement Co topped the monthly gainers table with a 29.8% jump in share price followed by National General Insurance and Dubai Refreshments Company with gains of 28.7% and 20.7%, respectively.

Union Properties topped the monthly volumes traded chart recording 620.3 million shares which changed hands during the month followed by Drake & Scull International and Talabat Holding which saw 538.4 million and 287.9 million of their shares change hands during the month, respectively.

On the monthly value traded chart, Emaar Properties topped the list with Dh3.5 billion worth of shares changing hands during the month, followed by Emaar Development, and Dubai Islamic Bank which saw Dh1.4 billion and Dh1.1 billion value of their shares traded, respectively.

Total market capitalisation at DFM stood at Dh894.8 billion at the end of March 2025.

Across the broader GCC region, most stock markets recorded monthly declines in March 2025. Qatar led the decline with a 2.0% fall in the QE Index, followed by a 1.6% dip in Oman. Bahrain and Saudi Arabia also saw marginal decreases, at 0.5% and 0.7% respectively.  Only the Boursa Kuwait bucked the trend, recording a marginal gain of 0.9% during the month, driven by selective buying in blue-chip names. 

“The relatively smaller decline in the GCC index reflected gains in large cap sectors, that included Banking, Telecom and Materials that almost fully offset declines in the rest of the sectoral indices,” Kamco Invest said. Gains for the banking sector came after interest rate expectations showed higher for longer rates in the near term, supporting net interest income for the sector, the report added.