Global Financial Markets in UAE Maintain Stability Amid Worldwide Market Turbulence: Emirates NBD Report Finds
Capital markets in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) continue to perform robustly amidst global uncertainties, buoyed by an influx of high-net-worth individuals and global asset managers, as per Prasad Chari, Senior Managing Director of Equity Capital Markets at Emirates NBD.
Delivering insights at the Capital Market Summit 2025, Chari outlined the sector's resilience in navigating challenging economic conditions. He underscored the crucial role of local and regional investors, whose long-term strategies have fortified the UAE's capacity to assimilate new market offerings, ensuring the stability of the capital markets despite escalating interest rates and global economic stressors.
Chari's analysis spotlighted the success of several high-profile Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), including those of DEWA, TECOM, Dubai Taxi, and Spinneys. Launched during the volatile global market, these offerings enhanced investor confidence and showcased the UAE's domestic market vitality. While the rate of IPOs has slowed in 2025 compared to the previous year, Chari notes that the market remains active through other operations, such as voluntary takeover bids, block trades, and specialized offerings, thereby augmenting market liquidity and attracting greater investor participation.
Looking forward, Chari expresses optimism for the second half of the year, anticipating larger capital raises, particularly from upcoming offerings. The adaptability of the UAE capital market to global shifts and its sustained growth paint a promising future for investors and businesses alike.
The UAE capital markets are experiencing significant growth, driven by internationalization and structural reforms. Foreign investor participation in Dubai's financial markets has reached 85%, key to its ambition to become a top 4 global financial hub. The UAE's domestic debt capital market is robust, with individual emirates and the federal government expected to issue about $18 billion in local currency debt in 2025. Dubai's bond and sukuk market has expanded to $142 billion by Q1 2025. The region is witnessing an evolution in the path to going public, with a focus on governance, scalability, and suitable instruments like REITs or Sukuk to foster growth. Dubai is inching closer to top 4 global financial hub status, bolstered by its openness to global capital and talent, exceptional infrastructure, and innovation.
Chari's optimistic outlook for the second half of the year suggests a promising future for investments in UAE capital markets, anticipating larger capital raises from upcoming offerings. As the UAE continues to attract global investors, its robust domestic debt capital market, coupled with evolving pathways to going public such as REITs and Sukuk, positions it well for bolstering business and finance growth in the trade sector.
