Markets

Breakdown of the latest developments on the global exchanges
Nov 29, 2019, 12:00 PM GMT
#StockMarket

Saudi Aramco’s IPO Continues to Raise Serious Interest Among Institutional Investors

Oil refinery factory

The highly anticipated initial public offering of Saudi Aramco is expected to be a massive initial listing of a public company, which is going to break all previous records.

There are already significant indications to substantiate such expectations, given the advanced bids that have already been placed for the company’s shares.

Yesterday it was revealed that institutional and retail investors have already accumulated nearly $44.3 billion in bids for the company's initial public offering.

According to people familiar with the matter, that number is almost 1.7 times more than what the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is looking to raise.

Reportedly, the Kingdom is seeking a valuation of around $1.6 trillion by selling a 1.5 per cent stake of Saudi Aramco's ownership, which would amount to $25 billion.

Despite the expectations for a massively successful initial public offering, however, there are certain reasons to question the long-term sustainability of the Crown Prince’s plan for economic transition.

Thus far, only about 10 per cent from the raised $44.3 billion comes from foreign institutional investors. This means that the interest in Saudi Aramco's listing is almost exclusively stemming from local investors.

Such trends in the overall demand cast a shadow of a doubt regarding the long-term feasibility of the project, given the apparently subdued foreign interest.

Consequently, the almost exclusive ownership of Saudi Aramco by local nationals is going to mean that the company will not be as diversified as initially expected, given the consensus forecasts for massive IPO.

In the event of internal distortions in the Saudi economy, the resulting shockwaves could potentially impede the performance of the company if the overall liquidity levels diminish.

Meanwhile, the price of the crude oil tumbled by 5.19 per cent following the release of the news.

USOIL is currently trading at around 55.22 and is close to testing the major support level at 54.81.

The strength of that support level was last tested on the 20th of November, but the price bounced off from it then.

Nevertheless, the overall market sentiment this time appears to be much more distinctly bearish, as indicated by the negative histogram of the MACD.

Consequently, the successful breakdown below the aforementioned support level seems to be much more likely to occur at the current rate.

USOIL 1D Price Chart