RIYADH: Saudi Arabian Oil Co. briefly displaced tech giant Microsoft to become the world’s second-largest company by value at SR7.92 trillion ($2.11 trillion) as the company’s stock prices hit SR36.15 on Wednesday.
By the close of trading, the share price had dropped to SR36 — the same value as at the market opening.
By 1:45 p.m. GMT, the US firm had climbed back into second place, with a value of $2.19 trillion, while Apple still held the top spot, with a market capitalization of nearly $2.6 trillion.
Saudi Aramco’s stock moves came just a few days after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced the energy giant would transfer 4 percent of its shares to Sanabil Investment Co., which the Public Investment Fund wholly owns.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index closed in the green for the sixth consecutive session on Wednesday as it went up by 42.11 points, or 0.37 percent, driven by rising investor confidence due to favorable market conditions.
The parallel market Nomu edged down by 26.05 points, or 0.12 percent, to 21,325.92, while the MSCI Tadawul 30 Index rose 0.18 percent to 1,524.22.
The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR6.88 billion.
The top performer of the day was National Co. for Learning and Education, with its shares going up by 9.90 percent to SR115.40.
Other top performers were Saudi Advanced Industries Co. and Raydan Food Co., whose shares increased by 7.90 percent and 6.45 percent, respectively.
The worst performer on Wednesday was Electrical Industries Co. The company’s share prices dropped by 2.70 percent to close at SR39.60.
Other losers of the day were Saudi Marketing Co. and Arab National Bank, as their shares dipped by 2.65 percent and 2.40 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, shares of Saudi Lime Industries Co. will begin trading on Nomu on April 27.
Tadawul said in a statement that the upper and lower limits of the daily and static fluctuation of the company’s shares would be 30 percent and 10 percent, respectively.
