Dubai, Feb 22, 2026, 11:57 GST — Market closed.
- Dubai’s DFM General Index ended Friday down 0.26% at 6,590.53 points.
- Banks led the late-week drop as traders weighed U.S.-Iran tension and softer oil.
- Investors watch Emirates NBD’s dividend timeline and global inflation signals for the next cue.
Dubai shares start the week with geopolitics back in the driver’s seat after a late-week dip pulled the Dubai Financial Market’s benchmark lower.
The tone matters now because Dubai’s market has leaned on banks and property names for much of its direction, and both tend to react fast when global risk appetite sours.
The next few sessions also collide with dividend mechanics for a key blue-chip lender and a run of global data that can shift rate bets, which feed into Gulf funding costs through the UAE dirham’s peg to the U.S. dollar.
Dubai’s DFM General Index closed at 6,590.53 points on Friday, down 17.16 points, or about 0.26%, according to Dubai Financial Market data. (Dfm)
In the final session before the weekend, Dubai’s main market ended around 0.3% lower as investors weighed rising U.S.-Iran tensions, while Dubai Islamic Bank slid 2.2% and top lender Emirates NBD fell 0.7%, Reuters reported. Oil, a key swing factor for the wider Gulf, eased 0.4% to $71.38 a barrel, after two sessions of gains. (Reuters)
Even for Dubai — where non-oil sectors dominate listed weights — crude moves still bleed into sentiment through regional flows and the risk trade. A jump in oil on supply fears can lift energy-heavy peers, but it can also harden inflation expectations and keep global rates higher for longer, a mix that tends to hit banks and rate-sensitive stocks in different ways.
One near-term focus is Emirates NBD’s dividend timeline. The stock’s last date for dividend entitlement is Feb. 25, with an ex-dividend date of Feb. 26, DFM corporate action data show. “Ex-dividend” is the first day a buyer no longer gets the declared payout; prices often adjust around that date. (Dfm)
Beyond dividends, traders will keep scanning for company disclosures that can shift governance or risk perceptions. Dubai Residential REIT’s fund manager, DHAM REIT Management LLC, told the exchange it had “appointed Mrs. Mayssa Choucair as Director of Risk Management and Compliance, effective immediately,” in a letter signed by Ahmed Al Suwaidi. The letter also said Rabah Al Halwani had completed a secondment and would return to Dubai Holding. (Amazonaws)
Global inflation signals are another moving part. The U.S. Producer Price Index for January is due on Feb. 27, according to the U.S. Labor Department’s release schedule, a data point that can nudge Treasury yields and, by extension, Gulf rate expectations. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
The Dubai Financial Market reopens on Monday; it is closed on Saturday and Sunday. (Dfm)
But the week could still turn on a headline. A cooling in U.S.-Iran tensions or a steady oil tape could pull bargain buyers back into banks after Friday’s drop, while any sign of escalation could trigger a sharper risk-off move and widen the selloff beyond financials.
