Trading in the first Exchange Traded Funds, or ETFs, was commenced by Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, or ADX, on Thursday, trading platform in the region by listing and trading NBAD OneShare Dow Jones UAE 25 ETF.

The new fund, which will provide investors with exposure to 25 blue-chip companies from across the UAE, will follow the performance of the 'Dow Jones UAE 25 Total Return Index'.

Tom Healy, ADX's Chief Executive and Michael Tomalin, NBAD Group's Chief Executive, as well as Rashed Al Baloushi, ADX's Deputy Chief Executive, apart from other senior officials from both institutions, attended the inauguration.

Trading of 63,000 shares valuing Dh327,600 in six deals was seen on the first day. After opening at Dh5.20, the ETF closed at same levels after touching a high of Dh5.21.

In a statement, Dow Jones specified Emirates Telecommunications Corp, First Gulf Bank, Emaar Properties, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Dubai Islamic Bank as the top five components in the Dow Jones UAE 25 Index by free-float market capitalization as of 26th February.

It should be noted that equity securities traded on the stock exchanges of the UAE, excluding foreign-listed stocks. Represented exchanges are the Dubai Financial Market, Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and Nasdaq Dubai, are included in the selection universe of the Dow Jones UAE 25 Index.

A statement issued by Dow Jones, a full service index provider, said, "The index is weighted by free-float market capitalization. The weights of the individual components are capped to eight per cent of the index."