From January to June this year, institutional investors bought more local stocks than they sold in the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and the Dubai Financial Market (DFM).

Their net purchases totalled AED5.6 billion after buying stocks worth AED165.4 billion and selling AED159.7 billion in stocks.

The substantial rise in institutional investments in local stocks confirms the confidence in the UAE’s markets and their future growth potential, attributed to the country's strong economic fundamentals and the impressive performance of its listed companies.

Emirati markets are actively adopting strategies to attract more foreign and institutional investments while diversifying liquidity sources between domestic and foreign investors and institutional and individual participants.

Institutional investments accounted for some 78 percent of the total trading volume, both buying and selling, in both markets since the start of the current year, while individual investments constituted around 22 percent.

In detail, institutions invested more than AED5 billion in the ADX, resulting from purchases totalling AED143.4 billion compared to sales of around AED138.4 billion.

In terms of monthly net purchases, institutions recorded the highest value in the ADX in February with around AED2.3 billion, followed by approximately AED100.07 million in January, AED1.02 billion in March, AED587.1 million in April, AED566.7 million in May, and AED416 million in June.

In the DFM, the net total of institutional investments was AED613 million since the start of the current year, with purchases totalling AED22 billion and sales at around AED21.4 billion.