Dubai
Saudi Aramco shares fell to a new low on Wednesday after Iran launched missiles against U.S. targets in Iraq, but Gulf debt markets were fairly stable, as some had feared stronger retaliation from Iran. Saudi Aramco opened at 34 riyals ($9.06), its lowest since it began trading on Dec. 11, putting the market value of the company at around $1.8 billion, down from a peak of $2.06 trillion on Dec 12. Aramco’s shares fell in the final couple of weeks of 2019 because reality kicked in among investors, but the recent weakness was caused by geopolitical tensions, said Jason Tuvey, a senior emerging markets economist at Capital Economics. Aramco shares are down almost 12% from a high of 38.70 riyals on Dec. 12, but still above the IPO price of 32 riyals, which valued the company at $1.7 trillion. Gulf stocks were also pulled down by the conflict between the United States and Iran, which attacked U.S. targets in Iraq on Wednesday after a U.S. drone strike last week killed the Iranian commander Qassem Soleiman. But bonds issued by Gulf governments were fairly stable, and credit default swaps – used to insure against the risk of a sovereign debt default – were unchanged.—Reuters
