Good morning, wonderful people. The real estate sector is towering over today’s issue, where we cover Cityscape Global’s mega-sized announcements on the first day of its four-day run. The annual forum is set to unveil over SAR 160 bn in real estate investments and projects on its first and second day, Housing Minister Al Hogail confirmed in his opening remarks.

ALSO- Arada snapped up an 80% stake in a major London housing project, and Dar Global is partnering with the Trump Organization on a new Trump-branded project in the Maldives with a digital twist.

BUT FIRST- The international press is heating up with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s ever-nearing trip to the White House. The Crown Prince is expected to land in the US this week to the full pomp of a state occasion and a busy schedule with US President Donald Trump to discuss a Qatar-like defense pact, F-35 fighter jet sales, access to advanced AI chips, and civil nuclear cooperation. The two leaders are also expected to talk Gaza reconstruction, Palestinian statehood, and potential Saudi-Israeli normalization.

Trump says he is ready to provide the Kingdom with “a lot” of the coveted F-35 fighter jets, speaking a day before the Crown Prince lands in Washington, “We’ll be selling the F-35s,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office yesterday, adding that Saudis “want to buy them, they’ve been a great ally.”

** We covered what to expect from the anticipated summit last week. Want to read more? Check out the coverage from Reuters, Financial Times, Bloomberg, New York Times, CNBC, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal.

HAPPENING TODAY-

The subscription window for Almasar Education’s IPO on Tadawul’s main market opens today, Tadawul said on X yesterday. Retail investors will have until Thursday, 20 November to apply for up to 250k shares each. Final allocations will take place on Wednesday, 26 November.

REFRESHER- The IPO was priced at the top of the indicative range at SAR 19.5 per share, after the institutional tranche closed 102.9x oversubscribed, drawing orders totaling SAR 61.6 bn. The pricing will see the firm raise some SAR 599 mn, valuing it at roughly SAR 2 bn at listing, according to our calculations.

WEATHER– Misty skies are over the Eastern Region with patches of dense fog reducing visibility at times. Heavy clouds are forecast for along parts of Hail, while moderate to light rain showers are forecast for parts in Hail, Makkah, Madinah, Al Baha, Al Qassim, Asir, Al Jouf, Tabuk, Jazan and the Northern Borders Province.

  • Riyadh: 28°C high / 18°C low.
  • Jeddah: 33°C high / 26°C low.
  • Makkah: 33°C high / 25°C low.
  • Dammam: 31°C high / 19°C low.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

Saudi Arabia delivered the first shipment of its pledged energy support to Syria, with a tanker carrying 650k barrels of crude oil docking at Baniyas port, SPA reports. The cargo is the first tranche of a 1.65 mn-barrel grant, set to boost refinery operations, support energy sector sustainability, and ease economic pressures.

Boosting ties: Syrian-Saudi investment ties are advancing from MoUs to implementation, with some USD 6.4 bn in agreements activated during a joint investment roundtable last month. Major Saudi companies also plan to “drive [bns of USD] of actual capital to Syria within the next five years,” to rebuild Syria’s energy, financial, and telecom sectors.

Dozens of Indian pilgrims are feared dead after a bus carrying 46 people collided with a diesel tanker yesterday while traveling from Makkah to Madinah, Gaurav Uppal, a senior Telangana state official coordinating rescue efforts in the Kingdom, told the Associated Press. One passenger, Mohammed Shoaib, survived with injuries. Saudi authorities, the Indian embassy in Riyadh, and the consulate in Jeddah are assisting families, while Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar offered condolences to the families.

Inmar Company for Real Estate Development and Investment’s board greenlit its transfer from Tadawul parallel market Nomu to the main market TASI, it said in a Tadawul disclosure yesterday. The move is subject to regulatory approvals.

MARKET WATCH-

Most analysts don’t see Opec+ making supply cuts next year: Almost two-thirds of the 25 brokers and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expect Opec+ to hold production steady in 2026, with fewer than a third anticipating any move to reduce supply. Only eight respondents expect fresh curbs next year, while 12 see no cuts at all, and the remainder say a policy shift is unlikely unless the market suffers a severe downturn.

Only a significant dip in demand and a drop in crude prices to USD 50 / bbl could push the group back into active market management, senior analyst at Eurasia Group Greg Brew told the business news information service.

Non-Opec supply growth could also stall as early as next year, potentially strengthening Opec+’s position by late 2026, Bloomberg cites BP’s CEO Murray Auchincloss as saying. That could help validate the group’s shift toward protecting market share, especially as the IEA continues to forecast demand growth for longer than previously expected.

Not everyone agrees on the size of next year’s surplus: Goldman Sachs and HSBC expect a smaller surplus than the IEA projects, noting that excess barrels may continue to be absorbed by China as it tops up its strategic reserves, the outlet said.

Middle East producers are also finding a lifeline in China and India, which have absorbed surplus barrels that briefly pushed the region into oversupply earlier this month, Bloomberg reports separately, citing traders. Cargoes that were sitting without buyers — including volumes from the UAE — have now cleared, easing concerns about a buildup of unsold shipments. Chinese refiners took several cargoes, while Indian processors marginally increased purchases through a run of tenders.

While buying has kept Middle East grades relatively supported versus other regions, pricing remains under pressure. Benchmarks including Oman, Upper Zakum, and Murban continued to trade at lower differentials to Dubai as the month progressed, Bloomberg said, citing General Index data.

DATA POINTS-

Some 82.4% of the Kingdom’s children aged 24–59 months are on track in health, learning, and psychosocial wellbeing per the Early Childhood Development Index (ECDI2030), with 83.2% of girls and 81.6% of boys meeting the benchmarks, according to data (pdf) from the General Authority for Statistics. In addition, 90% of children aged 36–59 months live in positive, stimulating home environments.

In education, 17.3% of children aged 36–59 months are enrolled in early childhood programs (18.2% girls, 16.5% boys), while 73% of five-year-olds participate in organized learning (74.5% girls, 71.5% boys). Meanwhile, 31% of children under five own one or two books, and 9.2% own three or more. Some 35.1% of children aged 5–7 years old use digital devices for 1–2 hours daily, and 28.8% use them for less than one hour daily.

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

The Epstein files are still taking Washington, DC by storm, pushing even US President Trump to walk back his earlier stance and call for Republicans to release the full stack of documents to the public. Trump’s call comes amid wide defection in the ranks of the House’s Republicans who were poised to vote in favor of a bill to release the files.

The heat is intensifying against names mentioned in the batch released days before, with former US Treasury secretary and ex-Harvard president Larry Summers announcing yesterday he’ll step back from public commitments to take responsibility for his “misguided” actions. (Financial Times | CNBC | CNN)

CLOSER TO HOME- The UN Security Council passed a resolution endorsing Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan for Gaza, authorizing an international stabilization force in the enclave to demilitarize and destroy military infrastructure, and calling for a “Board of Peace” to govern Gaza in a transitional period and oversee reconstruction and economic recovery.

Hamas rejected the resolution, saying it “does not meet the level” of Palestinian political and humanitarian demand, and “imposes a mechanism to achieve the occupation’s objectives.” (Associated Press | Washington Post | Reuters)

ALSO WORTH NOTING THIS MORNING-

  • Amazon will raise USD 15 bn in its first USD-denominated bond offering in three years to fund AI infrastructure expansion. (Reuters)
  • Bangladesh’s ousted PM Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to death, following a trial in absentia over protests crackdown. (BBC)

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Black Hat MEA is coming to Riyadh between 2-4 December at the Riyadh Exhibition and Convention Center in Malham. The cybersecurity event will host over 45k visitors from 140 countries, 450 exhibitors, and 300 speakers and will feature over 500 hours of content across 12 stages, including live hacking demos, panels, workshops, and interactive sessions, with participants from Google Cloud, Cisco, Haboob, Saudi Information Technology Company, Infoblox, Microsoft, Interpol, Mastercard, and Riot Games.

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