-- The Tadawul Share Index closed Monday 0.99% higher as the full restoration of oil pumping capacity at Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline overshadowed the gloom from the results of the US-Iran talks.
The damage from attacks last week led to the loss of 700,000 barrels per day in pumping capacity, but the repairs brought the pipeline back to 7 million barrels per day. "This quick recovery reflects the high operational resilience and crisis management efficiency of Saudi Aramco (SASE:2222) and the Kingdom's energy ecosystem as a whole, thereby enhancing the reliability and continuity of supplies to local and global markets, and supporting the global economy," the Saudi Ministry of Energy said in a statement on X.
Meanwhile, oil prices rose with news of the US plans to block the Strait of Hormuz. US President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post that ships to and from the Strait will be potentially attacked.
"By announcing an impending blockade of the Strait, President Trump may be signaling that he is not prepared to cut his losses just yet. In pursuing this strategy, President Trump may be calculating that China will become more active in negotiations if it faces a cutoff of Iranian cargoes to its refineries," RBC Capital Markets said in a note. "Also, it may prove to be a far more challenging undertaking to blockade Iran than Venezuela, and we would anticipate Tehran will increase attacks on regional energy facilities, including critical derisking infrastructure, if President Trump backs his threat with action."
Back at home and on the corporate front, Edarat Communication and Information Technology (SASE:9557) closed flat as its board proposed to repurchase shares, as well as boost its capital to 75.6 million Saudi riyals via bonus share issues.
Looking ahead to the rest of the week, the local economic releases calendar's only entries are the March inflation print and wholesale price figures, both on Wednesday.