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Emirati Equities Close Mixed as Geopolitical Tensions Weigh on Sentiment; Al Seer Marine Surges

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Geopolitical tensions and rising oil prices remained in the spotlight as bourses in the United Arab Emirates again struggled to find a unified direction on Thursday.

At the close of trading, the FTSE ADX General Index was little changed at 0.056% in the green, while the DFM General Index fell 0.394%.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted eight oil tankers and two US vessels after the US Central Command destroyed five Iranian crude tankers on Tuesday. The escalating conflict, coupled with Houthi attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure and cities, sent oil prices above the $100 per barrel threshold.

"Iran said it is ready to intensify the war, while President Trump said that the war is likely to continue until just after the midterm elections in early November. The risk is that escalation starts leading to meaningful disruptions to Strait of Hormuz flows. Oil flows have surprised to the upside in recent weeks, but the market could tighten more sharply if ongoing escalation translates into disrupted oil flows once again," ING said.

On the economic calendar is the release of the August consumer price index print by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday, enabling investors to gauge inflation and predict interest rate moves.

Back home, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier discussed ways to bolster bilateral economic ties and reviewed regional and international developments during the former's state visit to Germany.

Turning to corporate news, Al Seer Marine Supplies and Equipment Co. (ADX:ASM) disposed of part of its listed equity investments through separate on-market transactions and allocated the proceeds to prepay a 600 million-Emirati-dirham tranche under its current term loan facility. The marine equipment supplier was the Abu Dhabi bourse's standout stock and closed 14.80% higher.

Emirates NBD Bank (DFM:EMIRATESNBD) closed 0.27% higher after it partnered with Shamal Holding to deliver integrated home financing services with structured payment plans to buyers and investors of the latter's off-plan residential projects in Dubai.

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Update: US Equity Indexes Fall as Treasury Yields Rise After Bessent Triples Size of Buyback Program, Worsening Iran War Sends Brent Crude Above $100

(Updates with index/price moves, macroeconomic data, comments, and company/geopolitical news from the first paragraph.)US equity indexes slid as government bond yields jumped after the Treasury Department unveiled plans to triple government debt buybacks to as much as $6 billion and after Brent crude oil futures surpassed $100 a barrel.The Nasdaq Composite declined 0.6% to 26,253.34, the S&P 500 retreated 0.5% to 7,636.36, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.8% to 52,380.66 on Wednesday. All sectors except energy fell, with consumer discretionary, real estate, industrials and utilities among the steepest decliners.Iran is ready for a more intense war and will escalate counterstrikes if the US continues attacking its territory and infrastructure, Bloomberg reported, citing a senior official from the Islamic Republic. Tehran has no intention of backing down in the face of an American naval blockade and attacks on its oil tankers, the official told the news outlet.The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps plans to declare a restricted zone stretching from Chabahar into parts of the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, Al Jazeera, a Middle Eastern broadcaster, reported. Any vessel entering this area will face sanctions, it said. The Strait of Hormuz accounted for about a fifth of global oil and gas flow daily before the Iran war.Iran said it attacked 10 ships near the Strait of Hormuz after the US sank five of Tehran's oil tankers, in the biggest declared wave of tit-for-tat attacks on shipping by both sides since the start of the six-month-old war, Reuters reported.The front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil contract surged 3.6% to $96.39 per barrel, and global benchmark North Sea Brent soared 3.5% to $101.34 per barrel.The Treasury Department plans to buy back up to $6 billion of government debt, CNBC reported. The move triples the normal buyback operation, following an announcement Aug. 19 from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying the department would at least double the normal amount for already issued securities.As longer-maturity bond yields rise, governments are taking steps to adjust issuance of longer-dated securities, according to Goldman Sachs. The US Treasury said last month it plans to increase buybacks of Treasuries with a maturity of 10 years or more, reducing the maturity profile of US debt stock. Shorter-maturity issuance will finance the buybacks."It's an effective reduction in the average maturity of issuance," Goldman's George Cole, head of European rates strategy, said in a webinar. "That in and of itself isn't sufficient to change the yield level."Most US Treasury yields rose, with the 10-year yield up 3.7 basis points to 4.84%, close to its highest since late 2023.In company news, Meta Platforms (META) launched a new personal artificial intelligence agent called Muse AI, which can send emails, book travel plans, take on goals, and continue working after users close the app. Shares advanced 6.6%, among the top gainers on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.Casey's General Stores (CASY) fiscal Q1 same-store sales growth slowed and missed Wall Street estimates, taking the shine off earnings and revenue beats. Shares sank 14%, the steepest decliner on the S&P 500.In economic news, Redbook US same-store sales surged 8.3% from a year earlier in the week ended Sept. 5, after a 9.6% year-over-year increase in the previous week.Gold futures were steady at $4,442.4, and silver futures jumped 1.3% to $67.87.

Dow JonesNasdaq CompositeS&P 500$CASY$META
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Update: US Equity Indexes Drop as Crude Oil Tops $100 Mark Amid Worsening Iran War, Yields Surge After Treasury Triples Government-Debt Buybacks

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Dow JonesNasdaq CompositeS&P 500$CASY$META
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Exchange-Traded Funds, US Equities Fall After Midday

Broad-market exchange-traded funds IWM and IVV were lower. Actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) fell 0.3%.US equity indexes fell as Brent crude oil futures crossed $100 a barrel, while a surge in government bond yields wiped the shine off the Treasury Department's move to triple government debt buybacks to as much as $6 billion.EnergyIShares US Energy ETF (IYE) gained 0.8% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) climbed 0.8%.TechnologyThe State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) gained 0.1%; iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) dropped fractionally, and iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) added 0.2%.The State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor (XSD) rose 0.2%, while iShares Semiconductor (SOXX) advanced 0.7%.FinancialThe State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF) slipped 0.1%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) declined 0.5%, and its bearish counterpart, Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ), advanced 0.5%.CommoditiesCrude oil increased 2.5%, and the United States Oil Fund (USO) gained 1.4%. Natural gas shed 3%, and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) dropped 2.8%.Gold on Comex increased 0.3%, and the State Street SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) moved 1.3% higher. Silver advanced 2%, and iShares Silver Trust (SLV) rose 3.9%.ConsumerThe State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) shed 1.1%. The Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC) fell 1.1%, and iShares Dow Jones US Consumer Goods (IYK) eased 0.9%.The State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) lost 1.2%. The VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) fell 1.1%, and the State Street SPDR S&P Retail (XRT) dropped 1.3%.HealthcareThe State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV) fell 0.2%; iShares US Healthcare (IYH) dropped 0.3% and Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT) declined 0.4%, while iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) shed 0.6%.IndustrialThe State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR (XLI) was 1.2% lower. The Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) shed 1.2% and iShares US Industrials (IYJ) dropped 0.9%.CryptocurrencyIn midday activity, bitcoin (BTC-USD) gained 0.3%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, ProShares Bitcoin ETF (BITO) increased 0.5%, ProShares Ether ETF (EETH) fell 0.2%, and ProShares Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) was flat.

Dow Jones^EEM^EXI^FAS^FAZ^GLD^IBB^IGM^IGV^IPK^IVV^IWMNasdaq Composite^IYE^IYH^IYJ^IYK^IYW^PMR^QQQ^RTH^SOXXS&P 500^SPY^UNG^USO^VDC^VHT^VIS^XLE^XLF^XLI^XLK^XLP^XLV^XRT^XSD$BETH$BITO$EETH