Markets, 29 October 2026
Thursday open: Abu Dhabi slips, oil and metals drift lower, steel firm
What moved
- Abu Dhabi gave some back. The ADX fell about 1.6% on Wednesday to 9,590 and is now down about 6% on the month. The DFM eased 0.3% to 5,845, down about 2.6% on the month. In the US, the S&P 500 closed at 7,744 and the Nasdaq at 26,550, each up about 0.3%. Emerging markets (the EEM fund) rose about 1.6%.
- Oil is a touch softer. Brent is around $110 a barrel and WTI around $101, both down less than 1% on the day. Over a week Brent is down about 2% and WTI up about 2%. The monthly gains of about 15% and 14% still span the late-September contract roll, so I wouldn’t lean on them.
- Metals drifted. COMEX copper is about $14,660 a tonne, down 0.5% today but up about 4% on the week. Aluminium is around $3,183, up 0.2% today and about 3% on the week, still about 5% below a month ago. Zinc still hasn’t updated since 23 October ($3,944).
- Steel stays firm. US Midwest HRC closed at about $1,534 a tonne on 28 October, up 0.6% on the day, about 1.6% on the week and about 5% on the month. Shanghai rebar closed at 3,074 yuan a tonne, up about 0.6% on the week now that there’s a week of history.
- Rates, dollar and gold. The latest Treasury yields are from 27 October: the 2-year at 4.70% and the 10-year at 4.99%, down about 9 and 13 basis points on the week. The dollar index is about 102.2, and gold is around $4,051, down about 0.7% today.
- Slow-moving indexes (September, unchanged): the US PPIs for copper wire and cable (+0.8%), steel wire drawing (+0.6%) and cement (flat).
The truth: For UAE cable, electrical and construction suppliers, this is another quiet morning. Copper and aluminium moved by fractions today, though copper’s 4% climb over the week is worth keeping in mind when you price conductor-heavy jobs. Steel keeps edging up, and HRC is about 5% higher than a month ago, so mill offers for wire, mesh and rebar are unlikely to get cheaper soon. The drop on the Abu Dhabi exchange is one session, not a story, but the month has been weak for local stocks. Oil near $110 keeps Gulf budgets comfortable and freight and energy costs high. Yields eased a little over the week, and with the dirham pegged that flows straight into local financing, but a 10-year near 5% is still not cheap. My read: nothing new to act on. Keep quote validity short on steel-heavy work and keep metal escalation clauses in.
Sources and as-of dates for every number are on the Markets board.