Saudi Aramco starts trading, gaining 10% and reaching USD 1.8T

Saudi Arabia's oil company Aramco began trading for the first time on Wednesday, gaining 10% in its first moments on the market in a dramatic debut that pushed it's value to USD 1.88 trillion, higher than any other listed company in the world.

The state-owned oil giant started trading on the Saudi Tadawul stock exchange after a mammoth USD 25.6 billion initial public offering that set the record as the biggest ever in history. Trading for Aramco shares began at 10:30 am in Riyadh.

The company had announced a sale of 1.5 per cent of its shares at 32 Saudi riyals a share, or what is $8.53.

At a pre-trading auction earlier in the morning, bids for Aramco's shares reached the 10 per cent limit on stock price fluctuation allowed by the Tadawul stock exchange. That pushed the price of Aramco shares to 35.2 riyals, or USD 9.39 a share.

This makes Aramco more valuable than Microsoft or Apple, two of the top listed companies in the world. It's also worth more than the top five oil companies -- Exxon