What you need to know as UAE markets open on October 24

Here are some things you need to know as markets open today in the United Arab Emirates.

1) Abu Dhabi-listed RAK Bank’s third-quarter net profit more than doubled to AED 224.8 million, from AED 108.8 million in the same quarter in 2016.

2) Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and Nasdaq Dubai have signed a license agreement, under which futures contracts linked with the DFM general index will be traded on Nasdaq Dubai’s equity futures market.

3) Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and Nasdaq Dubai have signed an agreement to develop and launch an Index Futures contract based on the Abu Dhabi general index on Nasdaq Dubai’s derivatives platform.

4) Nasdaq Dubai-listed ENBD REIT, the shariah-compliant real estate investment trust managed by Emirates NBD, said the fund’s net asset value (NAV) stands at $295 million (AED 1.083 billion) or $1.16 per share. Following its acquisition of The Edge office building in Dubai Internet City, ENBD REIT’s property portfolio value stands at $434 million.

5) The UAE Central Bank said the money supply aggregate M1 decreased by 0.9 percent to AED 488.9 billion in September, due to lower monetary deposits. M2 increased by 0.9 percent to AED 1.257 trillion, as quasi-monetary deposits grew. M3 increased by 0.5 percent to AED 1.458 trillion.

6) UAE’s eight Islamic banks account for approximately 20 percent of total assets in the banking sector, which comprises 23 percent of total domestic credit as of the end of August 2017, WAM reported citing, UAE Central Bank governor Mubarak Rashed Al Mansouri.

7) Oil prices edged higher on Tuesday, on the back of supply disruptions in Iraq. Brent crude was last up 0.2 percent at $57.46/bbl, while WTI crude rose 0.2 percent to $51.98/bbl.

8) Asian stocks were mainly positive towards closing hours. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index was last up 0.1 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.03 percent and China’s CSI 300 Index added 0.5 percent.

Write to Nadeshda Zareen at nadeshda.zareen@argaamplus.com