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Saudi Stocks End March Higher amid Geopolitical Tensions

Two investors monitor Saudi Aramco stock movements on the Saudi market. (Reuters)
Two investors monitor Saudi Aramco stock movements on the Saudi market. (Reuters)
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Saudi Stocks End March Higher amid Geopolitical Tensions

Two investors monitor Saudi Aramco stock movements on the Saudi market. (Reuters)
Two investors monitor Saudi Aramco stock movements on the Saudi market. (Reuters)

Saudi Arabia’s stock market closed March on a strong note, advancing while most Gulf markets declined, underscoring its resilience in the face of heightened geopolitical tensions.

The benchmark Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) ended the final session of the month at a two-month high, trading above 11,200 points, supported by gains in Saudi Aramco and Al Rajhi Bank.

The index rose about 4.5 percent in March, recovering part of its 5.9 percent loss in February. On a quarterly basis, it gained roughly 6.7 percent, putting it on track for its strongest performance since the fourth quarter of 2023.

Economic adviser Hussein Al-Attas told Asharq Al-Awsat that the market’s strong performance reflects the broader resilience of the Saudi economy and its ability to absorb regional shocks.

He said the gains were driven in part by Saudi Aramco maintaining crude flows to global markets despite disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.

Aramco shares rose 9.6 percent in March, climbing from 25 riyals to 27.44 riyals by Tuesday’s close.

The company has resumed exports through Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline, which bypasses the Strait of Hormuz. The pipeline is operating at full capacity of 7 million barrels per day via the Red Sea port of Yanbu, according to a source cited by Bloomberg.

Al-Attas added that petrochemical stocks have rallied since the start of the war, supported by their connection to Aramco and stronger global demand driven by supply disruptions linked to the conflict with Iran.

All 12 petrochemical firms listed on TASI have gained since the outbreak of the war, led by Yanbu National Petrochemical Company (Yansab), whose shares have surged 46 percent.

Gulf markets under pressure

The war involving Iran weighed on most Gulf markets in March, with heightened uncertainty driving sharp volatility and broad-based declines.

Dubai index recorded the steepest losses, falling 16.44 percent, followed by Abu Dhabi, down 8.93 percent. Bahraini and Qatari index each declined 7.84 percent, while Kuwait slipped 1.82 percent.

In contrast, Muscat bucked the regional trend, posting gains of about 10.5 percent. The Saudi market also outperformed its regional peers, rising 5.05 percent.

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Business

Saudi Minister Says AIIB Success Measured by Development Impact, Not Financing

Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan at the 11th annual meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s Board of Governors (X)
Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan at the 11th annual meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s Board of Governors (X)
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Saudi Minister Says AIIB Success Measured by Development Impact, Not Financing

Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan at the 11th annual meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s Board of Governors (X)
Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan at the 11th annual meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s Board of Governors (X)

Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan urged the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to judge its success by the impact of its projects, saying financing volumes and approvals alone do not show whether the bank is improving services, strengthening institutions, or building economic resilience.

Speaking at the 11th annual meeting of the bank’s Board of Governors, which concluded on Tuesday in Doha, al-Jadaan said the AIIB had built strong foundations in its early years.

Progress on regional connectivity, cooperation and private-sector participation had strengthened its ability to meet member countries’ infrastructure needs, he said.

As the bank expands, progress “should not be measured by financing volumes or project approvals alone, but by development impact,” he said.

Success should mean “better infrastructure services, stronger institutions, greater economic resilience and broader private-sector participation,” al-Jadaan said, as the bank enters its second decade and seeks to expand infrastructure financing and mobilize more private capital.

He called for earlier engagement with member countries to better understand their circumstances, infrastructure gaps and priorities, and for multiyear programs aligned with national strategies.

Al-Jadaan also urged the bank to broaden partnerships with multilateral development banks and international organizations to share expertise, avoid duplicating efforts and mobilize more public and private resources.

He said the bank should remain guided by member countries’ needs, taking account of differences in institutional capacity, fiscal space and levels of infrastructure development.

The Doha meeting, held under the theme “Future Infrastructure: Impact and Innovation,” comes as the bank prepares for a new phase of expansion.

The AIIB has said it aims to nearly double annual financing to about $20 billion by 2030, focusing on infrastructure linked to climate resilience, renewable energy, digital transformation and regional connectivity, while mobilizing more private capital.

Saudi Arabia is a founding member of the AIIB, a multilateral development finance institution established in Beijing in 2016.

Business

African Leaders to Gather in Egypt for Business Summit

Friday's forum is expected to bring together more than 20 heads of state and government representatives in the Mediterranean city of Alamein, alongside business leaders, bankers and development institutions. © KHALED DESOUKI / AFP/File
Friday's forum is expected to bring together more than 20 heads of state and government representatives in the Mediterranean city of Alamein, alongside business leaders, bankers and development institutions. © KHALED DESOUKI / AFP/File
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African Leaders to Gather in Egypt for Business Summit

Friday's forum is expected to bring together more than 20 heads of state and government representatives in the Mediterranean city of Alamein, alongside business leaders, bankers and development institutions. © KHALED DESOUKI / AFP/File
Friday's forum is expected to bring together more than 20 heads of state and government representatives in the Mediterranean city of Alamein, alongside business leaders, bankers and development institutions. © KHALED DESOUKI / AFP/File

African leaders will meet in Egypt on Friday for a business summit that Cairo hopes will bolster its clout across the continent.

Friday's forum is expected to bring together more than 20 heads of state and government representatives in the Mediterranean city of Alamein, alongside business leaders, bankers and development institutions.

"This is an African platform," Egypt's deputy foreign minister for African affairs Mohamed Abu Bakr Saleh told AFP.

"A country in East Africa should be able to sign an agreement with a country in West, North or southern Africa through this platform."

Saleh said the forum would become a biennial event under an African Union mandate, focusing on infrastructure, trade, agriculture, healthcare, mining, technology and renewable energy.

Officials estimate Egyptian investments across Africa at around $14 billion. Among Egypt's flagship ventures is Tanzania's $3 billion Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project, built by a consortium led by Egyptian companies.

Yet trade within Africa remains limited, totalling just $192 billion in 2023 and only accounting for around 15 percent of the continent's total trade, compared with more than 55 percent in Asia and over 70 percent in Europe.

Africa also attracted about $70 billion in foreign direct investment in 2025, a fraction of the roughly $1.6 trillion invested globally, according to the UN.

"Africa possesses vast resources, but they are still not being exploited to the level we would like to see," Saleh said.

The gathering also takes place against the backdrop of an unresolved dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia over the $5 billion GERD, Africa's largest hydroelectric project.

Ethiopia says the dam, inaugurated last year, is vital for economic growth, while Egypt says it could threaten Nile water supplies without a binding operating agreement.

More than a decade of negotiations have failed to yield a settlement.

"Our position on Egypt's water security has not changed and will not change," Saleh said. "It is an existential issue for Egypt."

Business

US Ban on $1 Billion Worth of Canadian Imports Goes into Effect

Shipping containers in the Port of Montreal, Canada (Reuters)
Shipping containers in the Port of Montreal, Canada (Reuters)
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US Ban on $1 Billion Worth of Canadian Imports Goes into Effect

Shipping containers in the Port of Montreal, Canada (Reuters)
Shipping containers in the Port of Montreal, Canada (Reuters)

US-Canada relations, already tense, are likely to deteriorate further after the United States went ahead early Tuesday with a decision to ban nearly $1 billion worth of Canadian imports, including dairy products and motorcycles.

The ban amounts to barely a ripple in $880 billion worth of a two-way annual trade between the two northern neighbors. But it marks another ratcheting up of President Donald Trump’s second-term trade war with America’s longtime ally and trading partner.

The import ban “certainly won't do anything to help the trade tensions between the United States and Canada,'' said trade attorney Patrick Childress, a partner at Holland & Knight and a former US trade official.

The latest sparring began over the summer when Trump reached back to a Great Depression law to impose 50% tariffs on about $20 billion worth of Canadian imports, charging that Canada discriminates against US dairy and auto producers. Canada promptly counterpunched with tariffs of 15% and 25%, matching US imports dollar for dollar.

To punish Canada for retaliating against his tariffs, Trump decided to ban a list of Canadian products, effective 12:01 a.m. Eastern time Tuesday.

The economic impact is likely to be minimal. Childress noted that the products on the banned list were already facing Trump’s tariffs. “For a lot of these goods, the 50% was already acting as a de facto ban by making importation from Canada into the United States uneconomical,″ he said.

Jacob Jensen, director of trade policy at the center-right American Action Forum think tank, calculates that the ban would cover $967 million worth of Canadian imports, based on 2025 numbers.

“This marks yet another escalation in the trade war that may result in further retaliation on the Canadian side,” Jensen said. He expects Canadian exporters and US importers “impacted by these bans will be highly motivated’’ to demand that trade officials on both sides find some way to reach a “resolution of this whole ordeal.’’