UAE markets end higher as global stocks rise and US data impresses

UAE stock markets ended on a high note Friday‚ mirroring worldwide trends. Chinas central bank introduced two plans to lift stocks‚ while US economic figures continued to raise investor spirits

The main index in Dubai (.DFMGI) went up 0.2% thanks to banking sector gains. Emirates NBD Bank (ENBD.DU) the top lender‚ rose 1.3% while Dubai Islamic Bank (DISB.DU) climbed 1.1%

Abu Dhabis benchmark index (.FTFADGI) inched up 0.1%. This was helped by International Holding Company (IHC.AD) increasing 0.3% and Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries (JULPHAR.AD) jumping 14.9%

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB.AD) a big winner‚ gained 0.9%. The UAEʼs largest lender reported Q3 net profit growth of 5% to 4.46 billion dirhams ($1.21 billion) beating market expectations

US retail sales grew 0.4% in September‚ slightly above predictions. Weekly jobless claims dropped unexpectedly. These factors influenced Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) monetary policy which often follows Fed decisions as most regional currencies are tied to the US dollar

For the week Dubai and Abu Dhabi indexes saw gains of 0.6% and 0.3% respectively‚ according to LSEG data

Mainland Chinese blue chips (.CSI300) surged 3.6%‚ while the European index (.STOXX) edged up 0.14%