Gulf stock markets plunge as oil cut deal fails, Aramco below offer price

 Stock markets in the Gulf plunged as plans for a production cut between OPEC states and Russia fell apart which also dragged down the shares of Saudi oil giant, Aramco below the IPO price.

Trading in the Kuwait index had to be suspended on Sunday after hitting a daily decline limit of 10 per cent.

This is the second time in the week that trading was suspended after the crash on Friday due to fears of the impact of the coronavirus on the global economy.

Stock markets across the Gulf were pummeled by a 10 per cent drop in oil prices after an alliance between OPEC and a group of non-OPEC members including Russia, failed to agree on a deal to deepen oil production cuts in response to falling demand.

In this meltdown, shares of Saudi state oil giant Aramco traded below their original IPO price for the first time Sunday and down 6.36% on the day. Aramco became the world's most valuable publicly-traded company when its share price gave it a record valuation of $ 1.7 trillionafter 1.5% of one of the world's largest companies was listed on the local stock exchange late last year.

Saudi Arabia's stock exchange, the Tadawul, was down 7.7% in afternoon trading. The Abu Dhabi index fell 5.8%, Dubai's Financial Market General Index was down 7.47%.

Shares of Saudi state oil giant Aramco traded below their original IPO price for the first time Sunday, at 30.90 riyals ($8.24) in Riyadh compared to the listing price of 32 riyals in December. That's down 6.36% on the day.

Saudi Arabia's stock exchange, the Tadawul, was down 7.7% in afternoon trading after plans to orchestrate an oil supply cut collapsed amid investor fears surrounding the fast-spreading coronavirus. IANS