UAE Equities Start Fed Week in Green; Oil Prices Fall on Hopes of Easing Middle East Tensions

07:34 AM EDT, 10/26/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Markets in the United Arab Emirates welcomed the new trading week on a positive note, with the FTSE ADX General Index and the DFM General Index gaining 0.546% and 0.306%, respectively, at the close of Monday trading. On the economic calendar is the release of the highly anticipated monetary policy decision by the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday, followed by US personal consumption expenditures price index data for September on Thursday. Oil prices dropped from a near six-month high on Monday as Brent crude oil futures were trading at nearly $114.60 per barrel as of 3:05 pm UAE time, down 1.82% from the previous day after media reports stated that officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan will meet Iranian leaders on Monday to de-escalate regional tensions with the US, following the arrival of Qatari mediators on Sunday. "The decline reflects hopes of easing hostilities between the US and Iran, after Qatari mediators travelled to Tehran on Sunday as part of an effort to de-escalate regional tensions in coordination with the US. Trump said it is 'getting to be decision time' on whether to make a deal with Tehran or resume attacks. However, he has not dispelled market expectations that strikes on Iran could follow after the midterm elections, and attacks on Saudi Arabia continued over the weekend," Danske Bank said. Back home, the UAE Capital Market Authority recorded a 43% year-over-year growth in licensed companies during the first nine months of 2026. The combined market capitalization of Abu Dhabi and Dubai bourses stood at 3.7 trillion Emirati dirhams for the period, with total traded value of 408 billion dirhams. On the corporate front, Emirates Stallions Group (ADX:ESG) shares lost 0.81%. The construction and real estate services company's subsidiary Royal Development Holding announced plans to open the Mallside Hotel within Dubai Hills Estate in Dubai in the first quarter of 2027. Elsewhere, Emirates Central Cooling Systems (DFM:EMPOWER), d/b/a Empower, secured its board's approval to enter into new three-year unsecured financing facilities worth up to 5.5 billion dirhams to refinance existing facilities and for general corporate purposes. Empower closed the session 2.33% higher.