UAE Shares End Week in the Green; Adnoc Drilling Gains

06:53 AM EST, 01/02/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Stocks in the United Arab Emirates ended Friday's trading session on a positive note, with the FTSE ADX General Index at 0.019% in the green, while the DFM General added 1.107%. Local investors continue to assess the developing situation in Yemen after a Reuters report said Salem Ahmed Saeed al-Khunbashi, the Saudi-backed governor of Yemen's Hadramout province, plans to launch a "peaceful operation" to reclaim military positions and installations from the UAE-backed separatist group Southern Transitional Council. In other news, the UAE government issued two federal decree laws for the Capital Market Authority and the Regulation of Capital Markets to align them with international standards and practices and enhance the efficiency and competitiveness of the country's financial sector. On the corporate side, Adnoc Drilling (ADX:ADNOCDRILL) ended 1.12% higher as its unit ADH RSC concluded the purchase of a 70% stake in SLDC Holdings RSC, the latter's joint venture with oilfield company SLB for its land drilling rigs business in Kuwait and Oman. Elsewhere, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DFM:DEWA), d/b/a Dewa, achieved a 90% completion of the first phase of the Hassyan desalination plant in Dubai, with full completion of all phases anticipated in the first quarter of 2027. Shares of the electricity and water services company closed the session 0.72% in the green. Across the pond, markets are closely monitoring tariff developments and looming deadlines heading into the new year. "First, there are still lots of tariff developments yet to come, most notably with the US Supreme Court case, who are set to rule on the legality of the tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)," Deutsche Bank Research said. "Aside from the court case, there are also a couple of other 2026 trade deadlines. One is the scheduled review of the USMCA agreement, six years after it first came into force in July 2020. The other is the US-China trade truce, which was extended by a year after the meeting between Presidents Trump and Xi back in October."