Saudi Shares Close Wednesday Lower Amid Fresh US-Iran Tensions
The Tadawul All Share Index closed 0.19% lower at the end of the Wednesday session as the growing tensions between the US and Iran dampened investor sentiment.Reuters reported that the US launched attacks that hit five Iranian oil tankers on Tuesday. In response, Iran struck a US military base in Jordan, as well as 10 vessels in the Strait of Hormuz."The Elephant in the oil room right now is of course the Strait of Hormuz. This past week saw a return to kinetic activity in the sense that the US is once again hitting Iranian targets and Iran is once again attacking US bases; ships are somewhat caught in the middle," Macquerie said in a note. "For the moment, we seem to converge on the view that for the right price some will take the risk, and using shuttle tankers to do the risky part, we can move substantial volumes out. Whilst extreme greed and fear may be off the table, the market is resigning itself to a longer conflict and we are starting to see the market pricing this in with spread."In macro news, Saudi Arabia's business confidence index ticked up to 56.7 in August, compared with 54.7 in the prior month. The report logged increases in the services and industry sector confidence indices, while the index for the construction sector edged down.On the corporate front, Qassim Cement (SASE:3040) shares closed 0.44% higher as it plans to buy read-mix concrete company A-Mix Co. under a share sale and purchase agreement.Meanwhile, Ataa Educational Co. (SASE:4292) published its financial results for fiscal 2026. The educational services company reported a 17.56% increase in attributable net profit and a 3.2% rise in revenue for the 12 months ended July 31. Shares were 0.97% in the red at close.
