May 13 (Reuters) -

An aircraft leasing firm owned by Saudi Arabia's sovereign

wealth fund has placed an order for up to 30 Boeing 737

MAX jets, the U.S. planemaker said on Tuesday.

AviLease, owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has

placed a firm purchase order for 20 737-8 jets, with an option

to buy 10 more, Boeing ( BA ) said in a statement.

The Riyadh-based firm has 200 owned and managed aircraft

and leases to 48 airlines globally.

Shares of the U.S. planemaker rose more than 2%. Its

stock has risen about 10% in the past four sessions amid a

de-escalation

in the

U.S.-China trade war

and

orders from British Airways-parent IAG

.

Boeing ( BA ) CEO Kelly Ortberg is among several corporate

leaders accompanying U.S. President Donald Trump on his Middle

East tour, starting with Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, to drum up

trillions of dollars in investments.

The White House said Saudi Arabia was set to invest $600

billion in the United States, including the largest defence

sales agreement between the allies, worth nearly $142 billion.

Earlier in the day, Boeing ( BA ) official Michael Strosnider

told Saudi state TV that the U.S. planemaker had been looking at

bringing Saudi Arabia into the global supply chain for the

F-15EX fighter jet.

Separately, Boeing ( BA ) delivered 45 commercial jets in April -

including two for Chinese airlines - nearly twice the 24

airplanes it delivered last year and higher than March

deliveries.

(Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil

D'Silva)