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FINWIRES

Tadawul Shares Close Higher on US-Iran Conflict De-escalation Hopes

-- Saudi Exchange-traded shares closed Tuesday higher as the potential resumption of the talks between Iran and the US pushed the Tadawul All Share Index to 0.52% in the green.

Sources said that the US and Iran are said to resume their discussions in Pakistan on ending the war, Reuters reported. The sources added that the talks in Islamabad might happen by the end of the week.

"Oil prices fell back below USD100/bbl overnight on the news that US and Iran might resume talks ahead of the end of the two-week ceasefire. Amid the additional US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and an end to the Russian sanctions' waiver that allowed purchasing of oil from Russian tankers already at sea, the oil market seems optimistic that supply constraints will start to ease in the short term. The waiver that allowed purchasing of Iranian oil is set to expire on 19 April, but its significance is reduced due to the ongoing blockade in the Strait," Danske Bank said in a note.

In other news, market watchers await the International Monetary Fund's latest world economic outlook report later in the day.

Back at home, Academy of Learning Co. (SASE:9541) shares ticked up 0.58% as its Learning Private Schools Co. subsidiary entered a 30-year lease for an educational complex that will be used for private education services.

Meanwhile, Saudi Aramco's (SASE:2222) Aramco Digital unit entered a project that will use industrial artificial intelligence of things group Cumulocity's platform to boost its fleet management operations in Saudi Arabia. Shares of the oil giant closed 0.87% lower.

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