PIF-owned Cruise Saudi sets sail with tech investment in AROYA Cruises
Updated 02 October 2023
Arab News
RIYADH: Public Investment Fund-owned Cruise Saudi has announced its investment into various tech organizations for its AROYA Cruises.
In a press release, the company announced that the project has entered its inaugural phase of technology stack development, solidifying partnerships with globally renowned tech companies.
These strategic collaborations, featuring Monitor Deloitte, Alibaba Cloud SA and theICEway as well as SourceToad, Otalio and Versonix Seaware, underscore Cruise Saudi’s commitment to providing passengers with a seamless journey from booking to boarding and beyond.
Cruise Saudi’s IT and digitization team is leading the technology stack development, signaling their dedication to delivering a cutting-edge passenger experience.
Leading the charge in project management and digital strategy is Monitor Deloitte, a global leader in strategy and consultancy. They will meticulously craft a data-driven digital strategy to ensure every technological decision is forward-looking and strategically aligned.
Alibaba Cloud Saudi Arabia, a homegrown Saudi enterprise, will lay the digital foundation for AROYA Cruises, ensuring top-tier security, reliability, and swift digital interactions.
Simultaneously, theICEway has been entrusted with the task of seamlessly integrating AROYA’s diverse technological domains into a cohesive digital ecosystem, guaranteeing a harmonious experience for both guests and crew members.
Guests on AROYA Cruises will benefit from an array of features designed to enhance their experience. This digital hub will provide services such as an interactive ship map, daily itineraries, and reservations for shore excursions, dining, and spa treatments.
Otalio’s Ship Property Management System is set to elevate the experience from cabin to deck, delivering curated experiences.
On the other hand, Versonix Seaware, renowned for its expertise in cruise-focused Reservation and Revenue Management, will offer an intuitive booking experience.
Cruise Saudi CEO Lars Clasen said: “We are proud to be working in collaboration with world-leading technology companies to integrate cutting-edge technology into the AROYA Cruises experience. Creating a seamless, modern and comfortable journey for our passengers really is at the heart of our offering, and investing in technology to enhance the cruising experience truly aligns with our future-forward ambitions for this cruise line.”
Cruise Saudi welcomes cruise lines from around the globe to include Saudi as a port of call on their itineraries and add new destinations across the Kingdom that boast rich cultural heritage, history, and natural wonders.
Cruise Saudi was officially launched in 2021 to develop the infrastructure and services required to scale a full-suite cruise market in Saudi.
The company is responsible for the development and operation of cruise berths and terminals as cruise gateways to key Saudi destinations, as well as scaling cruise services, from marketing to Shorex design and coordination and ship operations.
Saudi Arabia’s PIF buys significant minority stake in Rocco Forte Hotels
Updated 27 sec ago
ARAB NEWS
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has acquired a significant minority stake in UK-based Rocco Forte Hotels, marking a strategic move to enhance its presence in the hospitality sector.
PIF stated that the agreement aligns with the sovereign fund’s global investment plans in promising sectors to secure long-term returns. However, it did not disclose the exact percentage of shares acquired in Rocco Forte Hotels.
Turqi Al-Nowaiser, deputy governor and head of the International Investments Division at PIF, said: “Our investment in Rocco Forte Hotels reflects PIF’s confidence in both the commercial opportunity and the strength of the international hospitality and tourism industries that have shown remarkable resilience in recent years.”
He added: “As active long-term investors, PIF will continue to invest strategically in promising sectors to achieve sustainable returns globally.”
The fund also mentioned that the transaction is still pending regulatory approvals.
According to a press statement, the Forte family will maintain majority ownership and control of the group, while the Italian entity CDPE Investimenti has exited the business post-deal.
Rocco Forte, the executive chairman of Rocco Forte Hotels, expressed excitement about the hotel group’s partnership with PIF.
“They (PIF) share the same vision for the brand and the future strategy of the group, with the same ambition to take a long-term view. I look forward to working with PIF to expand the group and improve the high level of service we offer our customers,” said Forte.
“We thank CDPEI for having shared the past fruitful eight years during which we both successfully accomplished the mission we shared when we started the journey, having significantly enhanced the value of the company and increased the group’s presence in Italy and across Europe,” he added.
Founded in 1996 by Rocco Forte and Olga Polizzi, the Rocco Forte Group currently operates 14 hotels and resorts, along with 20 private villas.
PIF, considered one of the wealthiest sovereign wealth funds globally, is at the forefront of Saudi Arabia’s economic diversification efforts, in line with the objectives outlined in Vision 2030.
In November, PIF acquired a 10 percent stake in Heathrow Airport from the Spanish infrastructure giant Ferrovial.
In its October 2023 annual statement, PIF announced the establishment of 70 companies since its inception, with 25, such as Saudi Coffee Co. and Halal Products Development Co., founded in 2022.
In the same month, PIF also launched Tasaru, a company dedicated to developing local supply chain capabilities for the automotive and mobility industry in Saudi Arabia.
The fund has also made several investments in the future mobility sector, including the establishment of Ceer, Saudi Arabia’s first national electric vehicle brand, in collaboration with Foxconn. Additionally, PIF has invested in Lucid Motors, a US-based company.
ACWA Power aiming to triple the size of company, says CEO
Updated 21 min 30 sec ago
Ranvir Nayar MANAL AL-BARAKATI
DUBAI: ACWA Power is aiming to triple the value of its assets to $250 billion, the company’s CEO Marco Arcelli told Arab News on the sidelines of the UN Climate Change Conference.
The leading energy firm in Saudi Arabia, which has been expanding at a breakneck speed, has set itself an ambitious target of increasing the value of its assets under management from the $80 billion it currently has on its books.
Speaking from the COP28 forum in Dubai, Arcelli noted that a number of projects being undertaken by the company are in emerging areas of renewable energy, which he deemed as important for the company in order to achieve its targets.
Outlining the Kingdom’s potential and role within the Saudi renewable sphere, the CEO highlighted that the company will be responsible for delivering the Public Investment Fund program of 70 percent of the renewable energy that will be installed in the country.
‘‘We have a goal of tripling the size of the company to about $250 billion of assets under management, up from less than $80 billion when I joined at the beginning of the year,’’ said Arcelli.
The CEO flagged up the Red Sea Global project in Saudi Arabia as one of the key developments it is involved in, and said: “We just completed the first phase of the Red Sea Global, which is going to be one of the best and biggest tourist attractions in the world.
“We are providing the utilities there to these resorts and that one is 100 percent powered by green electricity. That means not only the power generation, but also the desalination and the wastewater that we are using there.
“That will go through a process where we are going to create mangrove wetlands so that basically that’s going to be part of the Saudi Green Initiative to plant the 1 billion trees by 2030.’’
Arcelli also underscored the various milestones and achievements registered by the company in 2023, saying: “I just joined in March this year. So, I have been here for eight months and the speed of growth and of activity in the company is just phenomenal. In the past eight months, we signed agreements for almost 10 gigawatts of power between Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and other countries.
“We have signed water agreements for 1.4 million cubic meters per day in Saudi Arabia and in the Emirates. We just broke ground this week on the second green hydrogen project that we participate in. All together we are growing in renewables and we’re growing in water by 20 percent this year.”
He also talked up the firm’s position as a “leading player” in the green ammonia industry, and its moves in transitioning facilities away from fossil fuels.
“For instance, recently in the Emirates, we converted a power plant that was built for using coal and we converted it to gas,” he said.
ACWA Power also converted a water desalination plant that was running on oil to reverse osmosis power by electricity. This has led to a saving of 22 million barrels of oil per year, informed Arcelli.
Together with the Saudi Electricity Co., ACWA Power has also recently bagged the deal for setting up a 3.6 gigawatts combined cycle plant.
Arcelli highlighted that though Saudi Arabia is the largest country for his company, it is rapidly developing in Central Asia and East Asia.
“Right now, the single biggest country is Uzbekistan for the new activity and all of Central Asia we see coming up with a lot of potential. The next target for us is China. And I am confident that within a few months we will be able to announce the first deal in China,” Arcelli said.
ACWA Power signed Memorandums of Understanding with two Chinese firms in Riyadh in September
Elaborating on the recently signed memorandums of agreement with Chinese firms, the CEO highlighted the firm has three main objectives when it comes to expanding into the Asian country.
The first is to keep working with the Chinese in regional and global projects, the second is to expand investments in the country itself, while the third is closer working on research and development.
Arcelli added: “We’re working a lot, particularly in the Shanghai area and with a lot of suppliers. To give you some idea of the activities we are working on. You know that here in the Gulf, temperatures are very high. The efficiency of the solar panels decreases.
“We are working with suppliers on how we can make the panels more suitable for installations to our region. It is going to benefit us, but it is also going to benefit all the industry in the end.”
He further outlined that ACWA Power is discussing ways for Chinese companies to “localize in Saudi Arabia” by demonstrating the “solid program” they have integrated in the Kingdom.
According to the CEO, the company is also in talks with other nations from Central Asia in hopes that they will develop the needed equipment locally, thus facilitating growth and creating a strong ecosystem from growth in Saudi Arabia.
Like many companies emerging from a legacy of fossil fuels, ACWA Power was “practically producing 100 percent electricity from fossil fuel until six or seven years ago,” said Arcelli.
Today, 43 percent of the company’s capacity, 53 GW, is coming from renewables, and the CEO expects that number to rise to between 70-80 percent.
As part of its mission to be an enabler of energy transition in countries that primarily only have access to coal or more polluting fuels, the company does not intend to entirely stop working with gas-fired combined cycles, Arcelli said.
Operating in the Global South, Africa, South East Asia and Central Asia, as it stands, does not allow for a complete, 100 percent transition of the needed energy in the region to renewables.
“We will do as many renewables as we can and complement that together with the goals and the plans of the local government to some combined cycles. We have a deadline for achieving net zero by 2050. Again, one of the reasons is that there is now a period where gas will still be required there – basically to fuel – but as we continue to add more renewables and more capacity over the long term, that is the goal,” he said.
ACWA Power is also looking at other emerging dimensions of renewable energy, like the large capacity battery storage. “We believe that as you introduce more renewable energy into a system, the more you need to think about how to stabilize the grid,” Arcelli said.
He added: “There are multiple ways. One is the system itself. So, if you have combined cycles, flexible generation, as we call it, then you can use that as a backup solution in other areas where you are blessed by a lot of sun.
“One of the greatest technologies is concentrated solar power. We do it here in the Emirates, so we do it in Morocco, we do it in South Africa, and we are exploring other countries.
Arcelli said having “the power of the sun 24 hours a day” would be of huge benefit as he talked up ACWA Power’s battery storage program, which he claimed is equivalent to the whole battery storage capacity installed in all of Europe in 2022.
For ACWA Power, the biggest such project is the RSG, which has grids that detach themselves from the main grid. Since it is solar, the project needed to have battery storage. Arcelli said that it is a massive 1.2 GWH for 400 megawatts of solar, so that one can have it all the time.
Arcelli was full of appreciation for the rapid transitions in energy provision being made by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, claiming the two countries are “leading the pack” in the transition.
“Both have, you know, very significant targets, Saudi Arabia to reach 50:50 renewables and combined cycles by 2030. That’s only seven years away. So that’s a massive programme. And the Emirates, they want to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030,’’ he said.
He pointed out that ACWA Power was a big player in both countries, adding: “That is how we bring our contribution, by bringing all the technologies and the financing from around the world, choosing the best and applying it so that we can offer the most competitive rates. Europe started really 20 years ago.
"The region here, of course, had abundant fossil resources. So there was maybe not as much urgency 20 years ago as there is today.”
Arcelli continued: “But I see basically all the countries here in the region taking that direction. And as I mentioned, it is just a matter of when, not if. Some started earlier with the visionary leaders that, you know, we were blessed with, and others are certainly coming along very positively.”
Looking at the state of the global energy businesses, Arcelli said that he felt the industry had taken to renewables as a whole for a variety of factors, but most notably due to its economic reasoning.
“I think that in power generation I don’t even talk anymore about renewables because that’s what everybody wants to do. The only time where we are not installing renewables is because you need to either grow a lot quickly and so you need also other types of generation or you want to complement your system,” he said.
Arcelli added: “For instance, you may have some solar, some wind, some nuclear, some gas fired generation, but let’s not debate that because renewables are not built by ideology today, they are built because they are the most efficient, they are the most secure, and that they are the most affordable type of energy that you can install.’’
Day 5 of COP28: Saudi Green Initiative Forum begins
The 3rd edition of the forum will discuss critical sustainability, primarily energy transition, protecting the seas, and unlocking climate finance
Updated 24 min 53 sec ago
Arab News
DUBAI: The Saudi Green Initiative Forum (SGI Forum) kicked off on Monday as COP28 continues to mobilize world leaders towards serious action against climate change.
Held under the slogan “From Ambition to Action”, the 3rd edition of the forum will discuss critical sustainability, primarily energy transition, protecting the seas, and unlocking climate finance to enable climate action at the UN climate Summit.
Mohammad Al Tayyar, Program Director, Oil Sustainability Program
“If you focus on the four R’s - reduce, reuse, recycle and remove - you can achieve a lot of your mitigation and abatement activities.”
9:36 GMT
Bandar Alkhorayef, Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, reaffirms to Arab News the Kingdom’s commitment towards energy transition.
9:24 GMT
Nadhmi Al-Nasr, CEO of NEOM
“We are starting from zero. We have no legacy. We have nothing to undo. And that’s a blessing, but a big responsibility.”
“First, we want the nature reserve to govern how NEOM will be done. We then immediately decided to make 95% of this whole region untouched nature reserve, which left us only 5% of the whole area to build on to house 9 to 10 million people in it.”
“We need to build the city or this NEOM by having it all energized by renewable energy, which is the base of NEOM.”
“We have hundreds of nationalities in NEOM.
Basically, we have the world in NEOM and I see many of them here. They are scientists, they are engineers, they are here because they are passionate about it. It's not just a job, it's a responsibility.”
9:20 GMT
Princess Haifa bint Muhammad Al-Saud, Saudi Vice Minister of Tourism
“International arrivals grew from around 680 million international arrivals to 1.5 billion, and that number is only going to increase to 1.8 billion by 2030.”
“We are going to put a $92 billion investment in Expo to make real one of the most sustainable cities by 2030.”
“Those are the types of commitments that we need to start proactively doing, and it starts from a role as individuals, all the way to the rules of the communities, to the roles of government and the roles of private sector alike.”
“Today the world is suffering from over tourism, $1 trillion spent annually is the cost of over tourism. So definitely preserving heritage sites is critical.”
9:00 GMT
Khalid Al-Falih, Saudi Minister of Investment
“My key point about sustainability is economic sustainability, and that’s where I think investment comes in.”
“We have global policies, and we’re at COP. This is where global policies are being written and architected.”
“The future is about responsible climate action in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
“We’re building the world's largest and most ambitious and cleanest green hydrogen project in Neon with a partnership from our leading renewable company, ACWA Power.”
“The Ministry of Energy is keeping Aramco and its trajectory of being the world's lowest emitting company.”
“The Saudi government is a top three on every metric that allows industries and consumers to be as efficient and least emitting as possible.”
“We are under no illusion that that fossil fuels will be switched off, constraining it and allowing us to preserve our hydrocarbons for the future, I think is a gift for us.”
“The kingdom has great endowments. One of them is our hydrocarbon endowment. The next is our location solar wind renewables converging together. Being able to produce green hydrogen blue hydrogen at a fraction of what would it cost at high consumption rates. The third endowment is our young great people who are the most innovative, the most productive, the most loyal, the most patriotic people and the fourth endowment is our private sector.”
“As we move forward, we believe that scaling would be more economical. This is why we have already announced that we are planning to get to 44 megatons of CO2 by 2035, which is almost equivalent to the total capacity in existence today.”
8:53 GMT
Mohammed Alibrahim, Saudi Arabia’s Assistant Minister for Oil and Gas
On balancing out carbon management: “What dictates what solution takes place depends a lot on the circumstances because at the end of the day when you select a solution it has to be the most economical for this location. There is no one path for every one.”
“When you are planning your power sector, you need a baseload and sometimes renewable energy could not provide that baseload and we have to be realistic about it what we’re planning moving forward. We do not see any competition, we believe that all these solutions are necessary moving forward, but what dictates the mix would be different from on country to another.”
On carbon capture scaling: “We understand that different technologies are in different stages of their life right now, but we believe also in paving a level playing field in these technologies. We do not play favorites; we do not say one technology is better than the other. We understand what we need to solve for, and it reduces emissions regardless what technology works.”
8:45 GMT
Adel Aljubeir, Saudi Minister of State and Envoy for Climate
“I believe we can work in terms of carbon capture and sequestration. I believe we can do a lot in terms of how we manage our lives and how we live, how we design our cities to reduce commuting time and to reduce pollution.”
“I believe our approach has to be comprehensive, not just in specific areas, there is room for reducing waste.”
“There is room for increasing efficiencies there is room for planting trees. There is room for combating desertification, there is room for combating plastics, there is room for carbon capture and sequestration.”
“I would say that the approach that we have used in Saudi Arabia is a whole of government all of society approach we don't believe that you can segment different areas we have to work, so to speak on all cylinders.”
“I believe that there's a need to provide resources to countries that have a lack of resources, and also providing them with expertise.”
“I believe we have the financial resources, I believe we're developing the political will in order to put in place ambitious policies and ambitious pathways towards achieving the objectives that we all aspire towards.”
“We have launched more than 80 programs and committed almost $200 billion, 186 to be precise on programs this far. We will continue to see what else we can do.”
“I would say the key elements are open dialogue and trust. And if we have an open dialogue and we have trust, and we can have a rational conversation about how they solve the problems and how we tackle the challenges that we're facing. We can come up with credible pathways forward.”
“The key is to express different opinions and the key is to see how we can all combine our collective wisdom to move forward.”
8:00 GMT
Inger Andersen, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme
- “I want to celebrate the fact that Saudi Arabia put it on the G7 agenda. Desertification and land degradation is an issue that is affecting millions of people and billions of hectares of land.”
- “It is a real issue and we have to also accept that we need land to have agriculture to have urbanization etc. So how are we going to ensure that our lands are as fertile as possible.”
“The Middle East green initiative that is also Saudi-led is something to celebrate. There are resources, obviously, from the GCF, the Green Climate Fund, etc. But these are small resources, the bigger resources will come from communities themselves.”
07:48 GMT
Dr. Khaled Alabulqader, CEO, National Center For Vegetation Cover Development And Combating Desertification, said Saudi Arabia is taking climate change “very importantly and seriously”.
“The Kingdom has taken big initiatives in the world stage and the local stage and on the regional stage.”
“We have done a very good job in the Kingdom in the last few years, where we reduced the [climate] impacts, especially in the coastal areas, vegetation cover and the rangelands. And now we have a policy to also manage the grazelands where we can convert to organized grazing practices with some incentives given to the local community and people.”
“We encourage the development of NGOs. NGOs are really increasing in numbers in the kingdom. For example, when we started the initiative for a plantation in the Kingdom, in the last two years, we have reached to a number 150,000 volunteers.”
“Land degradation is responsible for the 40 percent of global emissions.”
“We just finished the study and the roadmap for the Kingdom to take on the initiative of planting 10 billion trees from 2024 to 2100.”
07:34 GMT
Jukka Petteri Taalas, Secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization, said this year would be the warmest year on record, and we have also broken records of main greenhouse gas concentrations of carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide.
Taalas added that sea level rise is affecting this part of the world. “We are seeing more weather extremes, more droughts. This part of the world is very sensitive, people are facing more risks in this part of the world.”
“We know that the biggest problem with climate mitigation is consumption of fossil fuels. That’s two thirds of the problem. Then about 20 percent of the problems related to release of methane, especially from tropical wetlands, from rice paddies and from cattle. And about 10 percent of the problem that we have having in climate is related to deforestation, especially deforestation of the tropical rain forests in Africa, and sub parts of Southern Asia.”
“And we should stop this deforestation and instead, plant more trees is a way to absorb carbon dioxide from the from the atmosphere.”
“Then there’s a second challenge that we are having. It’s the fact that we have started seeing growing amount of dust and sand storms also in your parts of the world and these tree plantation to be one positive act against this growing amount of sand and dust storms. And this as you all know, sand and dust storms are having negative impacts on human health.”
7:00 GMT
Saudi Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman
During his opening speech, the Saudi Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said the Kingdom will work with international partners to develop tech-based initiatives to advance the implementation of effective climate action.
He said the Kingdom’s concrete action on implementing renewables are reflected by its ability to quadruple its capacity from 700 megawatts last year to two gigawatt with more than eight gigawatts of renewable under construction and around 13 gigawatts in various development stages.
“We are also planning to tender an additional 20 gigawatt by 2024 as part of our commitment to accelerate the development to renewable energy project.”
The Kingdom, the minister said, aims to become a key exporter of green hydrogen.
The NEOM green hydrogen project, he said, has successfully completed its initial phase securing investments of about $8.5 billion to produce 1.2 million tonnes per annum.
The forum will highlight Saudi Arabia’s projects and initiatives to promote sustainability and mitigate climate action under SGI, which was launched by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2021.
More than 80 initiatives are being implemented to contribute to achieving the SGI’s goals of the Saudi Green Initiative.
SGI Forum is an annual platform convening policy makers, thought leaders and climate experts from around the world to share insights, and discuss the best solutions to reach a more sustainable regional and global future.
It comes this year as the UN climate summit continues with key pledges from world leaders to mobilize efforts to combat the rising threats.
The annual United Nations Conference of the Parties, known as COP28, in the UAE featured about 150 presidents, prime ministers, royals and other leaders who are presenting their plans to cut heat-trapping emissions and mostly seek unity with other nations to avert climate catastrophe that seemed to draw closer than ever in 2023.
US pledges $3 billion for Green Climate Fund at COP28
The fund, with more than $20 billion in pledges, is the largest international fund supporting climate action in developing countries
Updated 04 December 2023
Reuters
DUBAI: The United States has pledged $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund, Vice President Kamala Harris said on Saturday in Dubai at the UN COP28 climate summit.
The fund, with more than $20 billion in pledges, is the largest international fund dedicated to supporting climate action in developing countries.
The latest pledge, which Reuters was first to report, would be additional to another $2 billion previously delivered by the US.
Sources said the pledge was subject to the availability of funds. The politically divided U.S. Congress needs to authorize the funding.
Harris announced the pledge in her address to the summit.
"Today I am also proud to announce a new $3 billion pledge to the Green Climate Fund which helps developing countries invest in resilience, clean energy, and nature-based solutions,” she said.
The fund's facilitators said in October that the current second round of replenishments had brought in about $9.3 billion in pledges to fund projects in climate-vulnerable counties between 2024 and 2027.
Even so, pledges so far represent a fraction of roughly $250 billion that developing countries would need every year by 2030 just to adapt to a warmer world, according to the United Nations. In addition to supporting climate adaptation, the fund also finances projects to help countries shift to clean energy.
Harris, who was representing the US at COP28 in place of President Joe Biden, was part of a US delegation that also includes climate envoy John Kerry and dozens of senior administration officials and cabinet members.
“It was important for both the president and vice president to ensure that a leader from the United States was at COP,” an official said, adding that Harris wanted to “make sure we are telling the world the story of progress that we have made in the US.”
US stock rally could wobble if tensions spike after Red Sea attacks
The developments risk inflaming fears that the Israel-Hamas war could widen into a broader conflict encompassing the US and regional players like Iran
Updated 04 December 2023
Reuters
NEW YORK: An attack on an American warship and commercial vessels in the Red Sea on Sunday risks reigniting investor worries about a widening of the war between Israel and Hamas, potentially complicating the outlook for a rally that saw US stocks crest a fresh closing high for the year last week.
The Pentagon said it was aware of reports regarding attacks on an American warship and commercial vessels in the Red Sea on Sunday, while Yemen’s Houthi group claimed drone and missile attacks on two Israeli vessels in the area.
Also on Sunday, a US military official told Reuters the United States carried out a self-defense strike in Iraq against an “imminent threat” at a drone staging site.
The developments risk inflaming fears that the Israel-Hamas war could widen into a broader conflict encompassing the US and regional players like Iran. Such worries flared after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel but subsided in recent weeks.
Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial, said a widening conflict could push some investors to take profits on the recent rally in stocks. The S&P 500 rose nearly 9 percent in November on signs of easing inflation and hopes the Federal Reserve is done raising interest rates. The index is up almost 20 percent on the year after notching a 2023 closing high on Friday at 4594.63.
“The market is sensitive to any expansion of this conflict,” she said. “I think active managers in any event are more likely to lock in their gains if this is a harbinger of a deeper military conflict that involves the US.”
Past spikes in geopolitical tensions have made investors head for popular havens such as gold, Treasuries and the US dollar. Signs of an intensifying Middle East conflict could also boost oil prices, which have slumped in recent weeks.
Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Hermes, said rising tensions in the region could send West Texas Intermediate crude prices up to between $80 and $90 per barrel. Prices on Friday stood at $74.07.
The developments come as investors eye factors that could sway stocks in coming weeks. A US employment report due on Friday could bolster the case for those arguing that a cooling economy will keep the Fed from raising interest rates further and possibly loosen monetary policy sooner than expected.
Other potential catalysts include the Fed’s monetary policy meeting on Dec. 12-13, as well as seasonal factors such as tax-loss selling and the so-called Santa Claus rally.
Orlando said a spike in geopolitical tensions could drop the S&P 500 by “one or two hundred points.”
“There’s no question this represents an opportunity for investors to take profits,” he said. “However I’m still convinced the index ends the year at 4,600.”
