Aramco falls below $2 trillion as stock declines for second day

Shares in Saudi Aramco dropped for a second day in a row a week after its record initial public offering, pushing its market value just below $2 trillion, the level sought by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Shares fell as much as 2.5% to 36.80 riyals, before recovering a bit to trade at 37 riyals at 1:09 p.m. local time, giving the company a total value of $1.97 trillion. The stock was included in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index and the main local benchmark, the Tadawul All Share Index, on Wednesday.

A number of investors took the chance to sell a few of the shares bought in the IPO as Aramco entered the benchmarks, said Marwan Haddad, senior portfolio manager at Emirates NBD Asset Management.

Aramco finished lower for the first time on Tuesday, ending the session down 0.7%. However, investors are still sitting on a 15% gain from the IPO price.