Non-oil sector will shrink this year -Fitch

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WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

THIS MORNING: UAE banks are paying up for deposits + ADIB sets the timetable for AED 1.75 bn rights issue

Good morning, everyone. The war continues to test the UAE’s business model on multiple fronts: Fitch thinks the non-oil economy will shrink this year, and lenders are paying up for deposits as liquidity tightens.

Our big story today: Fitch expects non-oil GDP to contract 3.7% this year before rebounding in 2027, but the bigger warning in its latest report is about where future investment goes. With Hormuz turning the UAE’s location into a risk, rivals could win some new projects that might once have defaulted to Dubai or Abu Dhabi, even if existing businesses stay put.

The banking side is under similar strain. UAE banks are raising deposit rates as credit growth outpaces deposit growth in 2Q, a sharp turn from the start of the year when lenders were sitting on comfortable loan-to-deposit ratios. It’s one reason why capital raising is rising up the agenda: ADIB has set a timetable for its AED 1.75 bn rights issue and Emirates Islamic is testing appetite for a possible five-year USD sukuk. Also on the fiscal front, the cabinet has approved AED 292.5 bn in federal spending for 2027-2029, up 28.3% from the previous cycle, although the 2027 allocation is 2.5% below this year’s record budget.

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Gargash wants a unified GCC front

Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, stressed the need to “revive collective Gulf action” in response to attacks against Saudi Arabia, in a post on X. Gargash argues the bloc has fallen short so far on security and defense coordination, which led others to “overreach against [the GCC].” He referred to GCC security as “indivisible” and “a shared responsibility” and stressed the need to strengthen the bloc’s collective security framework.

On the mend: The statement, issued in the wake of Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, is another sign of improving ties between the UAE and Saudi after a strained stretch. The two already named defense a priority for cooperation after UAE Vice President and Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan met Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman last month.

ADIB puts dates on its AED 1.75 bn rights issue

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) set the timetable for its AED 1.75 bn rights issue, with rights trading from 4-16 November and subscriptions open from 10-24 November, according to an ADX disclosure (pdf). Existing shareholders will receive one right for every 34.14 shares held, with the new shares priced at AED 16.45 apiece.

REMEMBER- Shareholders signed off on the rights issue last week, following board approval in August. The issue will add around 106.4 mn shares and lift issued capital by 2.929% to AED 3.738 bn. For a recent benchmark, Sharjah Islamic Bank’s AED 2.59 bn rights issue closed 3.2x oversubscribed earlier this year, with foreign investors accounting for 55% of demand.

Emirates Islamic eyes another sukuk offering

Emirates Islamic is testing investor appetite for another USD sukuk, with meetings kicking off today ahead of a potential five-year issuance, Zawya reports. The Fitch-rated A+ lender is considering fixed-rate, senior unsecured notes under its USD 4 bn certificate issuance program. The offering remains subject to market conditions, with its size and pricing yet to be determined.

REMEMBER- Emirates Islamic raised USD 500 mn through a sustainability-linked sukuk in September 2025, priced at 4.54%, or 95 bps over US Treasuries. The offering drew USD 1.2 bn in orders, 2.4 times the amount raised.

The market backdrop is tougher this time: Gulf bond and sukuk issuance fell 17.5% in 3Q amid higher borrowing costs. Investor demand and the final pricing will offer another indication of market appetite for regional debt.

ADVISORS- Our friends at Mashreq are joined by Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Arab Bank, Citi, Emirates NBD Capital, ICBC, KFH Capital, and Standard Chartered as joint lead managers and bookrunners.

UAE banks are paying up for deposits

UAE banks are raising deposit rates as lending growth outruns deposit growth and squeezes liquidity, Bloomberg reports, citing banks’ advertised offers and Central Bank of the UAE data. First Abu Dhabi Bank is offering 5.6% on new savings deposits through December, up from 4% in its previous campaign, while Emirates NBD is advertising as much as 5.5% on some larger new deposits. Credit grew 18.1% y-o-y in 2Q against roughly 14% growth in deposits, pushing the system’s loan-to-deposit ratio above 80%, from 77.7% in 2025.

That’s a sharp turn from the start of the year. In February, UAE lenders were sitting on comfortable loan-to-deposit ratios with room to keep expanding credit. By June, analysts were warning that liquidity pressure was building. Public-sector borrowing for infrastructure, including the “Zero Hormuz” push to bypass the strait, is keeping credit demand strong.

The funding side is tightening at the same time: The monetary base has fallen c. 13.5% since the war began, Jefferies’ Naresh Bilandani estimates. Central bank liquidity support introduced early in the war expired in September, and banks that tapped it now have to repay the funding, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Edmond Christou says. Gulf money has also flowed out to an Indian program for non-resident USD deposits. Most of the c. USD 130 bn it raised came from the Gulf, Bloomberg reports, citing people it says are familiar with the matter.

The next read is what that does to bank margins: Bloomberg Intelligence says lenders are now paying a “liquidity premium” for fresh deposits. If funding costs keep rising faster than loan pricing, the same credit boom that has supported earnings could start squeezing spreads instead.

One petition down

Dutch court clears a hurdle in OCI’s merger with ADX-listed Orascom Construction: The Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal has dismissed a petition from Dutch retail investor association VEB and shareholder Smits seeking an inquiry into OCI Global, and ordered them to pay jointly and severally some EUR 18k in costs, Amsterdam-listed OCI Global said in a statement (pdf) earlier this month.

REMEMBER- OCI and ADX- and EGX-listed Orascom Construction (ORAS), both controlled by Egyptian bn’aire Nassef Sawiris, are looking to merge into an Abu Dhabi-based infrastructure platform. The ruling removes one legal obstacle ahead of OCI’s shareholder vote on 30 October, though it doesn’t touch a separate petition Dutch investment company Value8 filed with the same court last month.

ORAS shareholders have already approved the merger — OCI holders would get 0.4634 ORAS shares for every OCI share — but it hit a wall over Sawiris’ position on both sides of the transaction. The Dutch court was concerned that OCI’s minority shareholders would be left holding Abu Dhabi-listed shares that most Dutch brokers can’t trade, with no option to cashout. ICYMI- That’s where NNS Holding came in. The Cyprus-incorporated arm of Sawiris’ family office is offering EUR 4.10 in cash for every OCI share, giving investors an alternative to the merger. But the merger can’t be completed until NNS has made the offer, declared it unconditional, and settled it — a condition the court-appointed directors attached at a shareholders’ meeting (pdf) in July. The deadline to accept the offer is 17 November, and NNS can extend it once by up to 10 weeks.

Could the Man City crisis have been averted?

Abu Dhabi-backed Manchester City held early-stage settlement talks with the Premier League before it was found guilty of breaching financial rules, Bloomberg reports, citing people in the know. The talks quickly broke down as the club insisted on its innocence. Given the scale of the case, a settlement likely would have reduced the penalties rather than eliminated them.

BACKGROUND- A Premier League-appointed commission ruled late last month that the club had inflated its revenue with disguised funding from Abu Dhabi to get around financial rules. City faces a points deduction, a heavy fine, or expulsion from the league. It has appealed, and a verdict is due by early February.

Why it matters for us: The case has become a UAE-UK issue. Emirati officials have warned London that a harsh ruling could cool their appetite for future large-scale UK investments. The UAE has put more than GBP 30 bn into UK sectors including defense, life sciences, and technology.

Data point

More than AED 106 mn — that’s the combined investment represented by 151 industrial licences in Abu Dhabi for projects that either entered construction or began production in 1H 2026, according to Abu Dhabi Registration Authority data cited by the Abu Dhabi Media Office. The emirate recorded a 5% y-o-y jump in new economic licences, driven primarily by micro-entrepreneurs and sole proprietors, while freelancer licences jumped 224% and new crafts and occupational licences rose 136%.

PSA

WEATHER- The mercury is set to hit 39°C in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi today, before dropping to 29°C overnight in Abu Dhabi and 30°C in Dubai, according to our favorite weather app.

The big story abroad

French President Emmanuel Macron said a major agreement on EU car policy would be finalized soon to protect the bloc’s automotive industry against fierce Chinese competition. Paris and Berlin are jointly working on the agreement, which is expected to delay the gradual end of combustion engines and support car production in Europe.

Tech investment firm Ithaca Holdings is in talks to take dating-app company Bumble private for around USD 1 bn. Bumble — whose market value stood at around USD 335 mn last Friday — has seen its shares drop over 90% since going public in 2021. Ithaca plans to use advanced technologies, including AI, across its investments.

Meta has launched Muse Wonder and Muse Wonder Full, describing them as its “most capable AI models yet”, as it ramps up its efforts to compete with Anthropic and OpenAI. Subscribers will be the first to see Muse Wonder, while the higher-capacity Muse Wonder Full model is currently available only to Muse Code subscribers.

The gas crunch gave Egypt every reason to speed up its energy transition, and the question now is who builds it and who pays for it.

Power Trip, our four-part signature series, turns this week to the transition and the private developers now building much of Egypt’s new power.

Issue II looks at how the deals behind these projects work, who is lending to them, and why the country is building a nuclear plant at El Dabaa alongside its solar and wind farms. We also look at whether the regional crisis has finally pushed industry toward renewables, and at the factories Egypt is counting on to build its own panels, batteries, and turbines.

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Fitch sees UAE non-oil economy shrinking 3.7% in 2026 before rebounding next year

The war is testing the foundations of the UAE's non-oil growth model, Fitch says. The model has rested on the country's role as a hub between Asia and Europe, a light-touch operating environment and its ability to attract foreign companies, workers and tourists. In a special report, the ratings agency says the war has dented only some of those strengths temporarily, but a long period of regional insecurity could undermine others: the UAE's logistics advantages and its image as a safe base for business, finance and tourism.

Non-oil GDP will contract 3.7% in real terms in 2026 before growing 6.1% in 2027 and 4.3% in 2028, the ratings agency said in a special report on the UAE's non-oil growth model seen by EnterpriseAM. That would still leave the non-oil economy 2.2% larger in 2027 than in 2025, but growth would remain well below the 7.4% average of 2022-2025. The forecast assumes the population shrinks 1% this year, then grows 2% in 2027 and 3% in 2028, compared with an average of 4.8% over the previous four years.

That implies a much weaker 2H: Non-oil GDP grew 1.8% in 1H, according to preliminary FCSC figures published over the weekend. That includes a 1.1% contraction in 2Q, the first full quarter of the war. For Fitch’s full-year forecast to hold, non-oil output would need to fall roughly 9% y-o-y in 2H, by our rough math, which is far deeper than anything in the data so far.

Logistics is the most exposed: Ports inside the strait handle about 80% of UAE trade, with Jebel Ali alone handling half. Daily port calls at Jebel Ali fell from an average of 24 in January and February to 3.7 since the war began. Even Fujairah, outside the strait, saw calls fall from 10 to 3.2 under Iranian attacks. Fitch doesn’t expect companies already operating in the UAE to pack up. Instead, it expects global manufacturers and traders to weigh the risk of another Hormuz closure against the UAE’s infrastructure and investment framework, and to hold back on new investment.

Meanwhile, competition is growing from Gulf neighbors. Oman’s ports sit outside the strait and have barely been touched by Iranian attacks. Saudi Arabia has shifted trade to its Red Sea coast, though that route carries its own risk at Bab El Mandeb, and its industrial and financial centers in the east and around Riyadh have been less affected (though that’s changing as Houthi attacks strike deeper into the capital). Riyadh is spending heavily to build capacity it currently gets from the UAE, using incentives to push companies to set up physical operations in the kingdom. Beyond the region, Istanbul, Hong Kong and Singapore could pick up work that can be done from anywhere. Fitch thinks the UAE’s established networks will stay cheaper and more efficient, but some trade will divert anyway.

People are the pressure point: Foreign nationals make up 88% of the population in the UAE, and skilled expats tend to be mobile and sensitive to risk. Companies may base fewer staff in the UAE for roles that can be done elsewhere. Financial and professional services, which together make up about a fifth of non-oil GDP, would be hit hardest if foreign firms and workers left. A falling population would also weigh on real estate, which makes up 8% of non-oil GDP, at a time when new supply is coming to market. Tourism is under pressure too: Fitch expects tourism revenues to fall 40% this year and not to recover to 2025 levels until 2028.

Why Fitch still backs the model: Its base case is that the UAE keeps its competitive edge and that the damage to its reputation fades within two years. That assumes a durable deal to reopen Hormuz around 1Q27. Its track record with recovery from previous shocks, including the 2008-2009 Dubai debt crisis and Covid, as well as similar precedents like Hong Kong, where businesses and professionals have been returning since 2024 after an exodus that once looked permanent, point to strong potential for the country.

Plus: It expects the government to roll out further business-friendly measures, backed by higher sovereign and GRE spending, with Abu Dhabi spending set to jump 19% this year. Oil is expected to do much of the work on the headline number. Fitch forecasts total GDP growth of 0.9% this year, then 8.5% in 2027 as Hormuz reopens more fully and the UAE’s exit from Opec+ lets it raise production to an average of 4.2 mn bbl/d.

UAE approves AED 292.5 bn federal budget for 2027-2029

The cabinet approved AED 292.5 bn in federal spending for 2027-2029, up 28.3% from the 2024-2026 budget, state news agency Wam reports. But the first year of the plan runs the other way: the AED 90.1 bn allocated for 2027 is 2.5% (or AED 2.3 bn) below the record AED 92.4 bn budget approved for 2026.

Social spending still takes the biggest slice in 2027, but the mix is shifting. Social development and pensions received AED 34.6 bn (38.4%), unchanged from 2026, followed by government affairs at AED 29.1 bn (32.3%), up from AED 27.1 bn last year, and federal expenses at AED 17.8 bn (19.7%), up 40% from AED 12.7 bn. Financial assets and investments (AED 5.6 bn, 6.2%) and infrastructure and economic resources (AED 3 bn, 3.4%) round out the list.

The investment line explains the dip. The allocation for financial assets and investments in 2027 is down 64% from AED 15.4 bn in 2026. That AED 9.8 bn drop is bigger than the AED 2.3 bn fall in the total — by our count, the other lines add up to AED 84.5 bn in 2027, up 9.7% from AED 77 bn. The 2026 allocation was itself a spike: financial investments took AED 2.9 bn (about 4%) of the 2025 budget, roughly half the 2027 figure, though the category labels differ slightly between years. Wam’s report does not explain the cut.

What about revenues? Unlike the 2026 budget, which put revenues at AED 92.4 bn, matching spending, the 2027 announcement gives no revenue estimate, leaving the planned fiscal balance unclear.

REMEMBER- Federal spending expanded sharply over the past two years. The government approved AED 71.5 bn for 2025, followed by a 29.2% increase for 2026. The Finance Ministry began preparations for the 2027-2029 budget cycle in July last year, with a focus on education, healthcare, social welfare, and core government services.

Julius Baer names Jean Pierre Dib, Philipp Kleinschnittger as Middle East and Africa co-heads

Swiss wealth manager Julius Baer named Jean Pierre Dib (LinkedIn) and Philipp Kleinschnittger (LinkedIn) as co-heads of its Middle East and Africa business, with Dib in Dubai and Kleinschnittger in Zurich, according to a statement (pdf). They succeed Régis Burger (LinkedIn), who moves into the newly created role of COO for emerging markets while retaining his position as CEO and senior executive officer of Julius Baer Middle East.

Both are internal promotions. Dib was most recently senior client partner in Dubai, with more than a decade in the bank’s Middle East franchise, and Kleinschnittger, who joined in 2016, held roles including head of Middle East and Africa, Switzerland, the UK, and South Africa.

REMEMBER- Julius Baer said last November it would open an advisory office in ADGM, expanding beyond its long-established Dubai presence. The Abu Dhabi entity launched in December 2025.

More focus on homegrown food, Kraken makes its comeback as Al Mazaya wants out, EFG launches liquidity services

A buyer for Abu Dhabi’s farmers

Fresh produce trader AG Group plans to buy 60-100 tons of vegetables a day from Emirati farmers this growing season, under an agreement with the Abu Dhabi Agricultural Club, AG Group’s parent Abu Dhabi National Investment and Development said in a statement (pdf). The plan covers eight vegetable categories grown on c. 249 hectares between December and May, adding up to roughly 11-18k tons over the season. Purchases are conditional on supply, quality standards, and contract terms, so this is a framework for buying rather than a firm commitment.

BACKGROUND- The agreement comes a week after Abu Dhabi set a target to produce 70% of its basic food commodities at home by 2040, more than double the 30% it manages today, as we’ve reported. Getting farmers a committed buyer is part of that push: in May, the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority launched a program to link the emirate’s more than 25k farms to food manufacturers.

3iQ moves closer to ADGM license

Canada-based digital asset manager 3iQ’s UAE arm 3iQ Middle East secured in-principle approval for a Category 4 license from ADGM’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority, according to a press release. The company still needs final regulatory clearance before it can operate under the license.

It’s not starting from scratch: 3iQ ran its BTC Fund, the first crypto vehicle to list in the Middle East, on Nasdaq Dubai for four years before delisting it in July 2025 after deciding that maintaining it had become too costly. It has since launched a digital asset hedge fund with UAE-based Further Asset Management, backed by USD 100 mn in seed capital from institutional, family-office, and sovereign investors.

IN CONTEXT- ADGM is attracting more institutional crypto players. Digital asset infrastructure firm Copper ME received preliminary approval in June to expand into custody, settlement, and other services, while US financial services giant BNY partnered with IHC-linked Finstreet and ADI Foundation in May to develop institutional digital asset custody infrastructure in Abu Dhabi.

Kraken makes a comeback

US-based crypto exchange Kraken is targeting a UAE launch in the coming weeks after its parent company Payward secured full market approval from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (Vara), according to a press release. The license covers broker-dealer services and management and investment services and marks Kraken’s return to the UAE’s regulated market more than three years after it wound down its Abu Dhabi operations. Vara has issued 18 licenses so far this year, according to its public registry, including to Daman and ARP Digital.

REMEMBER- Kraken’s first UAE venture ended in retreat. The company secured a license to establish a crypto trading platform in Abu Dhabi in 2022 before closing its local office and discontinuing AED funding in 2023, as the firm made cuts across its international workforce.

What’s next: Kraken says derivatives and new yield products could follow in 2026-2027, subject to regulatory approval. Dubai’s derivatives framework requires explicit Vara approval, and Nomura’s Laser Digital — which holds the same two licensed activities as Payward — became the first to offer client-facing crypto options under a separate limited pilot license.

Al Mazaya wants off DFM

Kuwait-based real estate company Al Mazaya Holding’s board recommended delisting the company’s shares from the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and transferring them to Boursa Kuwait, according to a company disclosure (pdf). The move still needs shareholder approval at the company’s general assembly.

This is a listing consolidation, not a take-private. Al Mazaya is already listed in Kuwait, so the proposal would concentrate trading on its home exchange rather than remove the company from public markets altogether. Management says the delisting itself is not expected to have a financial impact.

IN CONTEXT- Al Mazaya sees thin trading on the DFM, averaging c. 7.4k shares a day over the past month, worth roughly AED 6.7k, for a company valued at c. AED 472 mn. Trading has been somewhat choppy this year, with the DFM shedding 16.4% of its value at the end of March, though it has recently recovered, with trading volume almost doubling in September to 6.7 bn shares. It’s still down around 3.5% YTD.

EFG Hermes launches liquidity services on DFM

Our friends at EFG Hermes UAE are rolling out market making and liquidity services on the DFM, according to a press release (pdf). The investment bank is looking to offer continuous quotes on DFM-listed securities to deepen order books, tighten bid-ask spreads and support price discovery for securities. The services will be rolled out to both institutional and retail clients.

For the DFM, the move points to the growing role of liquidity provision on the exchange to help support trading on the exchange, according to chief operating officer Khalifa Rabba.

MENA startups set a mega-round record in 3Q as the early-stage deal base thinned 45%

Venture capital mega rounds reached a record high in 3Q, but the early-stage dealbase kept shrinking, according to Magnitt 3Q 2026 data seen by EnterpriseAM. Three rounds above USD 100 mn — Tabby’s USD 233 mn Series F, Barq’s USD 329.5 mn Series A, and Moove’s USD 250 mn funding round — pushed quarterly mega-round funding to a record USD 813 mn. Early-stage dealcount across the first nine months, meanwhile, fell 45% y-o-y.

In perspective: Regional startups raised about USD 3 bn across 351 transactions in 9M 2026, down 7% in value and 33% in volume compared with the same period last year, according to the report. Strip out mega-round and 9M funding would be down 32% y-o-y.

Mega rounds raised USD 1.5 bn across six transactions in 9M 2026 — more than the entirety of 2025 with a quarter still to go. The six were all in the UAE or Saudi Arabia: Barq (USD 329.5 mn), CargoX (USD 250 mn), Moove (USD 250 mn), Tabby (USD 233 mn), Mal (USD 230 mn), and Spiro (USD 215 mn).

September announcements did the heavy lifting. Two of the three 3Q mega-rounds, led by Barq, were announced that month, Magnitt’s research director Farah El Nahlawi tells us. “After two slow summer months, September marked a rebound. It accounted for two of the quarter’s three mega-rounds and recorded the third-highest monthly deal count of 2026, supported by the return of major regional events such as LEAP and Money20/20.”

UAE went one way, Saudi and Egypt the other: UAE funding rose 17% y-o-y to USD 1.6 bn, with close to USD 1 bn of that from mega-rounds. Saudi funding fell 29% y-o-y to USD 1 bn and Egypt dropped 20% to USD 206 mn. The UAE and Saudi together recorded 68% of regional transactions, broadly in line with 70% a year earlier.

Fintech kept its place as VC’s favorite sector. The sector raised USD 1.7 bn across 93 transactions — pulling 58% of regional funding and 26% of transactions, with four mega-rounds (Barq, Moove, Tabby, and Mal) accounting for 60% of the 9M funding. Transport and manufacturing followed at USD 298 mn and USD 218 mn, powered by CargoX and Spiro, respectively.

Local capital is filling the gap left by foreigners, a trend that we previously reported on in both stock markets and venture capital. MENA-based investors supplied 58% of capital deployed in 9M, up from 50% a year earlier and marking a three-year high for the share, while foreign investors’ share declined to 42%, with US-based investor deployment falling from 15% to 9%.

What’s next: The report expects a “higher for longer” interest rate environment to weigh on VC activity through 2027, with the US Federal Reserve having raised rates on 16 September for the first time since 2023 and projecting further tightening before year-end. Exits would be the other thing to keep an eye on — MENA recorded 31 M&A transactions in 9M 2026, down 26% y-o-y — consistent with Magnitt’s March scenario that expected buyer caution to show up within three to six months.

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Asian markets were in the red in early trading. Japan’s Nikkei was down roughly 2.2%, coinciding with the release of economic data highlighting mounting inflationary pressure. South Korea’s Kospi was down around 5%.

ADX	9,762	-0.3% (YTD: -2.3%)
DFM	5,838	+0.3% (YTD: -3.5%)
Nasdaq Dubai UAE20	4,763	+0.2% (YTD: -2.6%)
USD : AED CBUAE	Buy 3.67	Sell 3.67
EIBOR	3.7% o/n	4.9% 1 yr
TASI	10,284	-0.7% (YTD: -2.0%)
EGX30	51,614	-1.1% (YTD: +23.4%)
DFM	5,838	+0.3% (YTD: -3.5%)
S&P 500	7,807	-0.1% (YTD: +14.1%)
FTSE 100	10,656	+1.0% (YTD: +7.3%)
Euro Stoxx 50	6,201	+0.5% (YTD: +7.0%)
Brent crude	USD 106.13	+1.4%
Natural gas (Nymex)	USD 3.17	-1.7%
Gold	USD 4,191	-0.6%
BTC	USD 82,677	-1.0% (YTD: -5.6%)
Lunate JP Morgan UAE Bond UCITS ETF	AED 3.50	-0.9% (YTD: -2.0%)
S&P MENA Bond & Sukuk	146.90	+0.3% (YTD: -3.3%)
VIX (Volatility Index)	15.22	+2.6% (YTD: +1.8%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The ADX fell 0.3% yesterday on turnover of AED 760.9 mn. The index is down 2.3% YTD.

In the green: Al Buhaira National Ins. Company (+14.8%), Fujairah Building Industries (+5.0%), and Abu Dhabi National Takaful Co. (+4.9%).

In the red: Abu Dhabi National Hotels Co. (-4.1%), Gulf Cement Co. (-2.7%), and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company for Distribution (-2.6%).

Over on the DFM, the index rose 0.3% on turnover of AED 381.4 mn. Meanwhile, Nasdaq Dubai was up 0.2%.

CALENDAR

OCTOBER

12-14 October (Monday-Wednesday): Airport Show, Dubai World Trade Center, Dubai.

14-15 October (Wednesday-Thursday): Sharjah Investment Forum, Jawaher Reception and Convention Center, Sharjah.

13-15 October (Tuesday-Thursday): Annual Meeting of Global Future Leaders, Dubai.

20-22 October (Tuesday-Thursday): Future Health Summit, Adnec Center Abu Dhabi.

21 October (Wednesday): Reuters NEXT Gulf, St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort, Abu Dhabi.

27-28 October (Tuesday-Wednesday): Arab Competition Forum, Dubai.

27-28 October (Tuesday-Wednesday): Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.

30 October (Friday): Large businesses achieving annual revenues equal to or above AED 50 mn must appoint an accredited service provider for e-invoicing implementation.

Signposted to happen sometime in October 2026:

Abu Dhabi Space Week, Abu Dhabi.

NOVEMBER

2-5 November (Monday-Thursday): Adipec, Adnec Center, Abu Dhabi.

2-6 November (Monday-Friday): Dubai Future Finance Week, Dubai.

4 November (Wednesday): Digital Transformation Summit, Sofitel, Abu Dhabi.

4-16 November (Wednesday-Monday): ADIB rights trading period.

9-10 November (Monday-Tuesday): Annual government meetings, Abu Dhabi.

9-12 November (Monday-Thursday): EMEA Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education Conference, Dubai College of Tourism, Dubai.

9-13 November (Monday-Friday): World Congress of Military Med, Adnec Center, Abu Dhabi.

10-12 November (Tuesday-Thursday): Dubai International Electric Vehicle Exhibition & Conference, Dubai World Trade Center.

10-24 November (Tuesday-Tuesday): ADIB rights issue subscription period.

16-18 November (Monday-Wednesday): World Police Summit, Dubai World Trade Center, Dubai.

18-19 November (Wednesday-Thursday): Touchdown Middle East 2026, Conrad Abu Dhabi Etihad Towers, Abu Dhabi.

25-26 November (Saturday-Sunday): Doers Summit, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai.

DECEMBER

2-4 December (Wednesday-Friday): UN Water Conference, UAE.

4-6 December (Friday-Sunday): Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Abu Dhabi.

8-9 December (Tuesday-Wednesday): Capital Market Summit, Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai.

8-9 December (Tuesday-Wednesday): Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.

7-10 December (Monday-Thursday): Abu Dhabi Finance Week, Al Maryah Island, Abu Dhabi.

8-10 December (Tuesday-Thursday): Abu Dhabi Water & Power Week, Adnec Center, Abu Dhabi.

8-10 December (Tuesday-Thursday): Middle East & North Africa Business Aviation Association Show, DWC, Dubai Airshow Site.

Signposted to happen sometime in 2027:

1 January: Deadline for large businesses to implement e-invoicing;
14-17 January (Thursday-Sunday): MOC27 Motor, Outdoor & Camping Festival, Dubai Sevens Stadium, Dubai.
1Q 2027: Completion of the first phase of Hassyan seawater desalination project;
1-3 February (Monday-Wednesday): World Governments Summit;
31 March: Small businesses with annual revenues of less than AED 50 mn are obliged to contract with an accredited service provider for e-invoicing implementation;
31 March: Government entities are required to appoint an accredited service provider for e-invoicing implementation;
21-22 April (Wednesday-Thursday): Token2049, Dubai;
31 May-2 June (Monday-Wednesday): RailX Dubai, Dubai World Trade Center, Dubai.
1 July: Deadline for small businesses to implement e-invoicing;
1 October: Deadline for governments to implement e-invoicing;
Abu Dhabi’s solar and battery energy facility, combining 5.2 GW of solar capacity and 19 GWh of battery storage, is set for commissioning.

Signposted to happen sometime in 2028:

Artificial Intelligence Summit.

Signposted to happen sometime in 2029:

Sibos 2029 organized by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), Dubai;
Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, Abu Dhabi;
The commissioning of the seventh phase of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.

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