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Tadawul Shares Extend Losing Streak on Middle Eastern Geopolitical Jitters

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Saudi Exchange-traded shares closed Monday lower as the possible re-escalation of the Middle Eastern conflict pushed the Tadawul All Share Index 0.11% in the red.

The continued geopolitical tensions in the Middle East dampened sentiment as both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates reported drone strikes on Sunday. Saudi Arabia intercepted three drones, while its neighbor suffered damage to a nuclear power plant.

Investors are also raising their concerns about the agreement stalemate between the US and Iran. US President Donald Trump warned on his Truth Social account that Iran should "get moving, fast, or there won't be anything left of them."

"The oil market continues to reprice ongoing supply disruptions, with last week's Trump-Xi talks yielding no tangible progress in the Middle East. There had been hope (possibly misplaced) that China could use its influence over Tehran to break the deadlock between the US and Iran," ING said in a note.

Back at home, Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (SASE:2222), d/b/a Saudi Aramco, shares closed flat as it launched the kingdom's first-ever quantum computer and quantum-computing-as-a-service platform. The development is part of the state-owned oil giant's partnership with neutral-atom quantum computing company Pasqal.

Meanwhile, Ataa Educational (SASE:4292) logged a 35.767% year-over-year climb in attributable profit and a 2.317% annual decline in revenue for the fiscal third quarter. The net profit increase was attributed to the suspension of the operations of its training and recruitment sectors. Shares of the educational services company closed 0.57% lower.

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