Good morning, friends. We hope you survived the first day of Ramadan and have caffeinated and hydrated enough to take on the final two workdays of the week.

It seems business has already started to enter a calmer, slower stage now that the holy month is upon us, with the news slowing from earlier this week.

Still, we have updates for you on Ras Al Khaimah’s property sector in 2025, which CBRE says has seen capital values surge amid rising tourism and industrial activity.

Plus: More investments in proptech and AI, this time from private equity firm BlueFive Capital and Secondary Century Ventures.

AND- We have a sit-down with Actis Investments’ head of Middle East and Africa to discuss the data center infrastructure potential here in the region and supportive infrastructure that demands more attention.

ALSO- An update: UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has reportedly met with US Senator Lindsey Graham in Abu Dhabi, marking his first public appearance since rumors regarding the Emirati leader’s health circulated on X and in Turkish media following the cancellation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit. Al Nahyan and Graham discussed bilateral ties as well as regional developments and efforts to support stability in the Middle East and further afield, Wam reports. Graham said in an X post that “not only is [Al Nahyan] alive, but he is also well and as sharp as I’ve ever seen him.”

WEATHER- It’s another unseasonably warm day today, with temperatures in Dubai rising to 31°C and Abu Dhabi seeing the mercury peak at 32°C, before cooling to an overnight low of 18°C in both emirates.

Watch this space

ENERGY — State oil giant Adnoc is understood to have withdrawn from a USD 44 bn oil refinery project in India, The Economic Times reports, citing unnamed industry officials who only mentioned “other priorities” as the reason for withdrawal. A withdrawal would come as development of the Ratnagiri refinery in India’s Maharashtra region has been delayed for over a decade on the back of land acquisition issues and local protests. Fellow investor Saudi Aramco is also reportedly seeking to review its investment terms, one official said.

IN CONTEXT- The refinery was conceived as a joint venture between Adnoc, Aramco, and Indian state-run refiners Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum, with a planned capacity of 60 mtpa.

Emirates NBD’s India outposts set for life under RBL: Emirates NBD shareholders signed off on a plan to fold the bank’s Indian branches into RBL Bank, according to a DFM filing (pdf). The resolution allows management to proceed with the merger of Emirates NBD’s existing three-branch network (Mumbai, Gurugram, and Chennai) into RBL, which is contingent on acquiring a majority stake (51-74%) in the Indian lender. This is the internal green light for the USD 3 bn transaction, which is facing several regulatory speed bumps.

The lender is also refreshing its funding toolkit: Emirates NBD shareholders approved a AED 6.32 bn dividend payout and a broad debt mandate, authorizing the bank to update its existing USD 20 bn EMTN and AUD 4 bn issuance programs and set up new funding lines of up to USD 10 bn. Within that limit, the bank has the flexibility to issue up to USD 2 bn in regulatory capital instruments.

Data point

12.7 mn shares — that’s the number of shares (valued at USD 630.6 mn) Mubadala held in iShares BTC Trust (IBIT), BlackRock’s spot ETF, by the end of last year, up from 8.7 mn shares at the end of 3Q 2025.

Other Abu Dhabi-linked investment vehicles have also raised their stakes recently. Al Warda Investments, an arm of the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, increased its position in IBIT to 8.22 mn shares, according to the filing. By the end of 2025, Abu Dhabi-based investment entities collectively owned more than 20 mn IBIT shares, with a combined value of over USD 1.1 bn.

The big story abroad

Don’t hold your breath waiting for the Fed to continue its easing policy. Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s January meeting showed that policymakers anticipated “slower and more uneven than generally expected” progress toward its inflation target of 2%. That said, Fed members indicated that keeping rates steady would “likely be appropriate […] for some time as the committee carefully assesses incoming data.”

The greenback was slightly elevated by the news in early trading, maintaining earlier gains against the JPY and the EUR.

ALSO- Social media giant Meta is in hot water after its CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified incourt that the company no longer seeks to maximize the time spent by users on its platforms and bars kids under 13 from logging on. The CEO’s claims ran counter to internal emails and documents indicating otherwise.

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