Saudi Aramco shares surge past expectations in debut, hitting 10% daily limit

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Shares of Saudi Arabia’s oil company Aramco surged Wednesday in their debut on the Saudi Tadawul stock exchange, reaching a 10% daily limit in early action.

According to the stock exchange’s website, Aramco shares most recently changed hands at 35.20 Saudi riyals ($9.39), after debuting at 32 riyals in the sale of 1.5% of the company’s shares. The most recent share price brings Aramco’s value up to $1.88 trillion.

The massive $25.6 billion initial public offering has become the biggest in history. Aramco is now the world’s most valuable company. That’s more than the top five oil companies — Exxon Mobil XOM, -0.86%  , Total FP, -0.25%  , TOT, -0.17%  Royal Dutch Shell RDS.A, +0.16%  , RDSA, +0.51%  Chevron CVX, +0.50%  and BP BP, -0.24%  — BP, +0.05%  combined.

The IPO has been targeted at Saudi nationals as well as some strategic investors, though investment bankers failed to draw in international buyers.

Read: The most important thing to know about the Saudi Aramco IPO