The Microsoft Windows outage on Friday, which affected many industries and millions of computer users globally, is expected to temporarily heighten US market volatility, especially tech-heavy indices such as the Nasdaq.
The outage was linked to a faulty software update from CrowdStrike, one of the world's largest cyber security companies, which hit millions of Microsoft Windows users, leading to widespread disruption across airlines, banks and other industries.
CrowdStrike shares dropped by more than 20 per cent in pre-market trading on Friday following the disruption. Microsoft dipped more than 2.5 per cent in pre-market trading.
The two companies' shares have been fluctuating since the market opened. Texas-based CrowdStrike was down more than 9 per cent, while Microsoft was trailing 0.4 per cent at 8.05pm UAE time.
The disruption will prompt investors to adopt a “risk-off approach”, pulling back from high-risk stocks such as CrowdStrike and opting for safer companies offering similar services, Vijay Marolia, founder and chief investment officer of Regal Point Capital Solutions, told The National on Friday.
A risk-off approach involves reducing exposure to riskier assets and shifting focus towards safer, more stable investments.
Investors will become more cautious and "seek to protect their capital”, said Mr Marolia.
“However, we see potential benefits for CrowdStrike's peers and have increased our long position [buying more shares] in cyber security ETFs [exchange-traded funds],” he added.
“Additionally, we have increased our long position in Apple, as it appears their technology was not impacted by this issue."
Mr Marolia said that this outage might just be a “precursor to more severe problems”, indicating a broader vulnerability in IT systems that could disrupt tech-heavy indices in the weeks ahead.
Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 Index were trading 0.33 per cent and 0.32 per cent down, respectively, at 8.05pm UAE time on Friday. While another major US stock market indice Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.75 per cent.
European stock markets also extended their losses on Friday following the outage. The Euro Stoxx 50 index dropped 0.97 per cent and the Euro Stoxx 600 index was down 0.85 per cent at 8.05pm UAE time.
Advice for investors?
Given the scale of the outage, short-term market instability is expected to remain high, and investors are likely to see significant price swings as companies work to restore normal operations, said Adam Garcia at financial services firm Stock Dork.
“Investors should brace for continued volatility and remain agile in their investment strategies to capitalise on the potential recovery and opportunities arising from this situation,” Mr Garcia said.
For those looking to navigate this turbulent period, diversification remains key. Spreading investments across different sectors can help mitigate risks associated with specific industries being more severely impacted by IT disruption, he added.
How long will it take for markets to recover?
The tech outage seemed to have sparked a “sentiment-driven reaction” rather than indicating a long-term impact, suggesting that the initial drop is likely to be fully recovered during US trading hours, according to Vijay Valecha, chief investment officer at Dubai-based Century Financial.
“This dip is likely to be recovered within the day’s trading session as many investors are viewing it as a buying opportunity,” Mr Valecha told The National.
However, if the problem recurs several times, it could lead to a systemic risk, he added.
Some industry experts called it an “isolated issue” that does not show the potential to evolve into a more structural problem.
At this point, there is no indication of a larger shockwave effect spreading into the broader tech space, Thomas Monteiro, senior analyst at Investing.com, said.
"That said, individually, it is very likely that CrowdStrike will face an unexpected margin squeeze due to the need to ramp up both programmer and marketing expenses to convince clients worldwide that such issues are out of the cards,” Mr Monteiro told The National.
As for Microsoft, it is unlikely that this particular event will negatively affect performance, given the sheer depth and diversification of the company's offering, he added.
“In this case, it appears that the vendor [CrowdStrike] was confident in the update and had deployed it at scale,” James Maude, field chief technology officer at cyber technology firm BeyondTrust, told The National.
The fix requires physical intervention to rename or remove the malicious file, making the recovery process time-consuming and complicated for remote systems, Mr Maude said.
The specs: 2018 Kia Picanto
Price: From Dh39,500
Engine: 1.2L inline four-cylinder
Transmission: Four-speed auto
Power: 86hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 122Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.0L / 100km
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
Ordinary Virtues: Moral Order in a Divided World by Michael Ignatieff
Harvard University Press
Company Profile
Name: JustClean
Based: Kuwait with offices in other GCC countries
Launch year: 2016
Number of employees: 130
Sector: online laundry service
Funding: $12.9m from Kuwait-based Faith Capital Holding
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
WHAT ARE NFTs?
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are tokens that represent ownership of unique items. They allow the tokenisation of things such as art, collectibles and even real estate.
An NFT can have only one official owner at one time. And since they're minted and secured on the Ethereum blockchain, no one can modify the record of ownership, not even copy-paste it into a new one.
This means NFTs are not interchangeable and cannot be exchanged with other items. In contrast, fungible items, such as fiat currencies, can be exchanged because their value defines them rather than their unique properties.
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Company%20profile
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