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Emirati Indices End Week Mixed as US Vows Economic Pressure on Iran

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Stock trading in the United Arab Emirates struggled to find direction on Friday as Abu Dhabi's FTSE ADX General Index declined 0.707%, while Dubai's DFM General Index gained 0.291% at closing.

Following US President Donald Trump's threats to intensify economic pressure on Iran and nations that continue to do business with the Middle Eastern country, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the details of these US measures would be revealed next week.

Meanwhile, Iranian military Chief Ali Abdollahi said that any response to military threats would be "crushing" and "devastating."

"In his CNBC interview yesterday, Bessent also said that oil markets were 'misinterpreting' what this economic pressure means, and that he would hold a press conference on Monday to discuss the next steps. With lingering questions of whether the US could target countries economically supporting Iran, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman said 'sanctions and pressure will not help resolve the issue,'" Deutsche Bank Research commented.

Zooming in at home, Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange recorded a 99% compliance rate for listed companies' audited financial statements disclosures for the first half. The bourse also reported a 38% year-over-year growth in aggregate profits of these listed companies for the period.

Over to corporates, Borouge (ADX:BOROUGE) approved an unchanged interim dividend of 0.081 Emirati dirham per share for the first half of 2026, bringing the total amount of dividends paid to $4.9 billion since its IPO in June 2022. The petrochemicals company closed the session flat.

Elsewhere, Al Ramz Capital (DFM:ALRAMZ) renewed its liquidity provision agreement with Adnoc Drilling (ADX:ADNOCDRILL). Al Ramz Capital shares were flat on the Dubai Financial Market, while Adnoc Drilling gained 0.16% on the Abu Dhabi bourse at closing.

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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