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LONDON: Oil rose on Wednesday as the American Petroleum Institute reported a drop in US crude inventories and investors awaited the next steps in talks to end the Ukraine war, with sanctions on Russian crude remaining in place for now.

Crude fell more than 1 percent on Tuesday on optimism that an agreement to end the war seemed closer. However, US President Donald Trump conceded that Russian President Vladimir Putin might not want to make a deal.

Brent crude futures rose 55 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $66.34 a barrel by 11:12 a.m. Saudi time. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures for September delivery, set to expire on Wednesday, gained 65 cents, or 1 percent, to $63.

“(It) seems oil prices are thrown down one day, followed by a rebound the next day. The API report was on the positive side, so I assume some price support is coming from that,” said Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst at UBS.

Crude stocks fell by 2.42 million barrels, market sources said on Tuesday, citing American Petroleum Institute figures, ahead of official data at 5:30 p.m. Saudi time.

“Not so sure about the peace deal — will have to see if something moves forward over the coming days,” Staunovo added.

Trump said on Monday he was arranging a meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to be followed by a trilateral summit among the three presidents.

Russia has not confirmed it will take part in talks with Zelensky.

“The likelihood of a quick resolution to the conflict with Russia now seems unlikely,” said Daniel Hynes, senior commodity strategist at ANZ, in a note on Wednesday.

Oil also found support from flooding at a large US refinery.

BP said on Tuesday operations at its 440,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Whiting, Indiana, were affected by flooding after a severe thunderstorm, potentially weighing on crude demand at the facility — a key fuel producer for the Midwest market

RIYADH: ��������’s Tadawul All Share Index was steady on Tuesday, as it marginally declined by 0.04 percent, or 3.87 points, to close at 10,881.71. 

The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR4.02 billion ($1.07 billion), with 90 of the listed stocks advancing and 160 declining. 

��������’s parallel market Nomu gained 247.32 points to close at 26,769.86. 

The MSCI Tadawul Index slid marginally by 0.05 percent to 1,406.86. 

The best-performing stock on the benchmark index was Alistithmar AREIC Diversified REIT Fund, as its share price climbed by 8.62 percent to SR8.44. 

The share price of Tamkeen Human Resource Co. increased by 5.73 percent to SR57.20. 

Lumi Rental Co. also saw its stock price advance by 2.79 percent to SR60.70. 

Conversely, the share price of Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair Co., also known as Cenomi Retail, declined by 5.18 percent to SR22.71. 

On the announcements front, Basma Adeem Medical Co. said that its net profit for the first half of this year reached SR2.55 million, representing a rise of 7.25 percent compared to the same period in 2024. 

In a Tadawul statement, the healthcare firm attributed the rise in net profit to higher revenues driven by increased operational capacity, including the expansion of clinics and hiring additional doctors to meet increased demand. 

The share price of Basma Adeem Medical Co. increased by 1.78 percent to SR5.16. 

Service Equipment Co. announced that its net profit for the first half of 2025 declined by 40.06 percent year on year to SR4.56 million.  

According to a Tadawul statement, the drop in net profit was due to higher operating, selling and marketing expenses, as well as a rise in shipping and transportation costs. 

The share price of Service Equipment Co., listed on ��������’s parallel market, dropped by 9.56 percent to SR59.60. 

Jabal Omar Development Co. announced that it signed a Murabaha financing agreement valued at SR2 billion with Al Rajhi Bank to refinance existing facilities. 

In a Tadawul statement, Jabal Omar Development Co. said that the financing facility has a tenure of five years, and it can be extended to an additional three years. 

The firm’s share price declined by 0.96 percent to SR18.63. 

Retail investors started subscribing to 960,000 shares of Marketing Home Group for Trading Co. as a part of its initial public offering, on the Kingdom’s main market at SR85 each based on the book building process. 

In a statement, Tadawul said that the offering will run until Aug. 20. 

In March, ��������’s Capital Market Authority had greenlit the company’s request to float 4.8 million shares, representing 30 percent of its SR160 million capital, divided into 16 million shares at a par value of SR10 each.