UAE markets gain despite stalled US-Iran peace talks

Stock markets in the United Arab Emirates closed higher on Friday, with Dubai outperforming its regional peer despite fading hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough in the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran.

The Hezbollah rejected a new ceasefire in Lebanon on Thursday and Israel said it would not withdraw troops from the country, undermining U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to halt fighting there and reach a peace deal with Tehran.

Dubai’s main share index rose 0.9%, supported by gains in industrial and utilities sector stocks.

Toll operator Salik Company jumped 1.6%, while Emirates Central Cooling Systems increased 2.5%.

Abu Dhabi’s benchmark index settled 0.3% up, with the largest utility firm Abu Dhabi National Energy advancing 6.2%.

Alef Education gained 1% after the firm completed full migration of its digital learning ecosystem to Microsoft Azure with Core42’s sovereign cloud capabilities.

Brent crude was down 0.32% at $94.73 a barrel by 1232 GMT.