Dubai announces new financial services strategy

The government of Dubai has outlined a new financial services strategy with the aiming of doubling the size of the sector’s contribution to GDP and increasing total assets under management by companies operating in the emirate. As part of the strategy, more family businesses and local start ups will be encouraged to list publicly as well as increasing access to financing for SMEs.

The Turkish economy recorded a current account surplus of USD 5.5bn in August thanks to a strong rise in tourism income. The goods deficit narrowed to USD 2.8bn from USD 4.7bn a month earlier while the rise in services exports helped to lift the overall goods and service balance to a surplus of more than USD 6.7bn. Türkiye recorded net FDI of USD 986m in August and net portfolio outflows of USD 662m.

Inflation in India eased in September to 1.5% y/y, down from more than 2.1% a month earlier. On a monthly basis prices were higher by just 0.1%. Food prices declined by 2.3% y/y in September while housing prices were higher by nearly 4%. Energy inflation also slowed to less than 2%. The RBI’s next meeting is in early December with the market pricing in roughly 70% probability of a 25bps cut.

The CEO of Saudi Aramco, Amin Nasser, said the company could produce 12m b/d without needing additional spending, according to a statement at an energy event. He also said Saudi Aramco expects “resilient demand” and a “pressing need for long-term investment” to increase global oil supplies.

US President Donald Trump visited Egypt and Israel to over see the hand over of prisoners and hostages in the first phase of implementing the Israel-Gaza peace deal. The president called out for a “historic dawn of a new Middle East.”

Today’s Economic Data and Events

10:30 IN wholesale prices Sept: forecast 0.4%

13:00 GE ZEW survey Oct

Fixed Income

Anna Paulson, president of the Philadelphia Federal Reserve, said she supported two more 25bps cuts in rates by the end of the year as weakness in the labour market looked as though it would offset any inflation risks from tariffs.

US Treasury markets were closed for a public holiday at the start of the week.

The Central Bank of the UAE carried out its regular M-bill sale at the start of the week. It sold AED 3.5bn of 28-day M-bills at a yield of 4.24% with a coverage ratio of 1.7x; AED 3.5bn of 84 day M-bills at a yield of 4.18% with a coverage ratio of 1.97x; AED 4bn of 168-day M-bills with a yield of 4.13% and AED 13.5bn of 336-day m-bills at a yield of 4.03% with a coverage ratio of 2.3x.

FX

The US dollar recovered some ground at the start of the week with a prominent gain against Japanese yen. USDJPY added 0.7% to 152.28 while EURUSD fell by 0.4% to 1.157 and GPBUSD lost 0.2% to 1.3333.

In emerging markets Turkish lira was steady at 41.8063 along with minimal move in Indian rupee which closed at 88.675. The Egyptian pound slipped by 0.3% closing at 47.7091.

Equities

Global equity markets recorded some recovery overnight with a 1.3% rise in the Dow Jones index. The S&P 500 added 1.6% while the NASDAQ was 2.2% higher. European markets also rallied to start the week.

In the UAE, the DFM fell by 0.5% while the ADX was steady. Dubizzle will proceed with an IPO running at the end of October, selling 30% of the company.

The Tadawul rose 0.9% overnight.

Commodities

Oil prices had a modest rally to start the trading week with a 0.9% gain in Brent futures to USD 63.32/b while WTI added 1% to USD 59.49/b. The IEA is set to releases its monthly oil market report later today.

OPEC kept its global oil demand forecast unchanged at 1.3m b/d for 2025 and 1.4m b/d for 2026 in its latest monthly oil market report. Production from OPEC countries rose by 524k b/d m/m in September, according to the report with notably higher output from Saudi Arabia (just short of 10m b/d), the UAE at 3.35m b/d and Iraq at 4.07m b/d.