25 September 2026
Eighty two per cent of retail investors living in the UAE expect the local stock market to rise over the next 12 months, against 76% in March 2026. That is the highest reading since eToro first asked the question in November 2024. The figure comes from the UAE Retail Investor Beat published on 25 September 2026, a survey of 1,000 UAE based retail investors carried out by the research company Appinio between 14 and 21 August 2026. Confidence in the long term performance of locally listed companies stands at 93%, and 71% of those surveyed intend to put more money into the market over the coming year.
What the survey measured
The UAE Retail Investor Beat is a recurring study. eToro polls the same panel size of 1,000 retail investors resident in the UAE and repeats the same questions, which makes the March and September waves directly comparable. The fieldwork for this edition ran from 14 to 21 August 2026 and was carried out by Appinio, with publication on 25 September 2026.
The period between the two waves matters for reading the result. The first half of 2026 brought regional tension and a broader run of geopolitical noise, and the March wave was taken before much of it. The September wave therefore measures sentiment after the test rather than before it, which is what makes the direction of the numbers notable: on every headline question the readings moved up, not down.
The headline numbers
- 82% expect the UAE stock market to rise over the next 12 months, up from 76% in March and the highest level recorded since the question was introduced in November 2024.
- 93% are confident in the long term performance of companies listed in the UAE, up from 90% in March.
- 91% are confident in the UAE economy itself, up from 90%.
- 71% plan to invest more over the next 12 months.
- 14% are cutting their exposure to UAE equities because of geopolitical tension, down sharply from 25% in March.
The last line is the one that carries the most information. A fall from 25% to 14% in the share of investors reducing local equity exposure means the number of people actively selling down because of regional risk has dropped by roughly half in six months. Sentiment questions about the future are easy to answer optimistically; questions about what someone is doing with their own portfolio are harder to inflate.
Where investors see opportunity by sector
The survey also asked which sectors investors are optimistic about. Here the picture is not uniformly positive, and the movement between March and September is more interesting than the absolute levels.
| Sector | September 2026 | March 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Real estate | 58% | 54% |
| Technology | 49% | 48% |
| Energy | 35% | 42% |
| Financial services | 33% | 37% |
Real estate is the clear leader at 58% and the only sector with a meaningful gain. Technology holds steady at 49%. Energy and financial services both lost ground, energy by seven points and financial services by four. In other words, the rise in overall optimism is not a rising tide lifting every sector: investors became more bullish on the market as a whole while becoming more selective inside it, concentrating on property and technology and stepping back from the two sectors that dominated local indices for years.
How the UAE compares with other regions
Asked where they expect the strongest returns over the long term, 58% of respondents named the Middle East, ahead of the United States at 47% and China at 35%. For a retail panel with full access to global markets through an international trading platform, a home region preference of that size is a deliberate allocation choice rather than a lack of alternatives.
What sits behind the shift
Nagham Hassan, market analyst at eToro, framed the result around behaviour rather than mood: “Retail investors here stayed engaged throughout 2026. Risk has not gone away, but the response to it has changed.” Her reading is that local companies kept delivering results through a difficult half year, and that investors priced the performance of the businesses rather than the headlines around them.
The institutional side of the same market gives context to those retail numbers. Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange reported in September 2026 that it had entered the world top 20 exchanges by market capitalisation at around AED 2.9 trillion, with AED 171 billion of turnover in the first half of the year and 48% of that trading coming from international participants. Our note on that milestone is here: Abu Dhabi enters the global top 20 by market capitalisation. Retail conviction and international institutional flow are pointing the same way at the same time.
What this means for companies operating in the UAE
A sentiment survey changes no rule, fee or procedure, and it should not be read as one. What it does is describe the depth and mood of the local pool of private capital, which matters in several practical situations.
For founders and owners who eventually look at a listing, the readings on retail appetite are part of the demand picture alongside institutional flow. For anyone raising capital privately in the UAE, the 71% who say they intend to invest more over the next 12 months describe a resident investor base that is adding rather than withdrawing. And for companies in property and technology, the sector split shows where attention currently sits among local private investors.
The practical prerequisites do not change with sentiment. Investors, whether resident or foreign, transact through a licensed structure and a working bank relationship, and both take time to put in place. Our guide to opening a bank account in the UAE sets out what banks ask for, how long approval usually takes and where applications typically stall.
How Atlant Capital can help
- Choosing the right licence and jurisdiction for an investment or holding structure, mainland or free zone, and registering it: see company setup in the UAE.
- Opening and maintaining corporate accounts with UAE banks, including preparing the compliance file that decides the outcome: see bank account opening.
- Residency for owners and staff, so that the people running the structure are on the ground with valid status.
- Ongoing corporate tax and compliance support once the entity is trading.
The bottom line
Retail confidence in the UAE market reached its highest level in the two years the question has been asked, and it did so after a difficult half year rather than during a calm one. The share of investors reducing local exposure halved, from 25% to 14%. Optimism also became more selective: property gained, technology held, energy and financial services lost ground. For businesses here the takeaway is not a market call but a fact about the environment, that the resident pool of private capital is currently in an adding rather than a retreating posture.
Source: Gulf News.
FAQ
What did the eToro survey of UAE investors find?
Published on 25 September 2026, the eToro UAE Retail Investor Beat found that 82% of retail investors living in the UAE expect the local stock market to rise over the next 12 months, up from 76% in March 2026. It is the highest reading since the question was first asked in November 2024. In addition, 93% are confident in the long term performance of locally listed companies and 71% plan to invest more over the coming year.
How many people were surveyed and when?
The study covered 1,000 retail investors resident in the UAE. Fieldwork ran from 14 to 21 August 2026 and was carried out by the research company Appinio. The same panel size and the same questions are used in each wave, so the September results are directly comparable with the March 2026 wave.
Which sectors do UAE retail investors favour?
Real estate leads at 58%, up from 54% in March, followed by technology at 49%, roughly unchanged from 48%. Optimism towards energy fell from 42% to 35% and towards financial services from 37% to 33%. Overall optimism rose while sector preferences narrowed towards property and technology.
Do these numbers change anything for companies in the UAE?
No rule, fee or procedure changes because of a sentiment survey. The practical value is in the description of local private capital: 71% of resident retail investors intend to add over the next 12 months, and the share cutting UAE equity exposure fell from 25% to 14%. That is context for anyone raising capital locally or considering a listing, not a regulatory change.
