Firing up markets: Aramco shares jump on debut to value oil giant at $1.88trn

Striking gold: Aramco CEO Amin H Nasser, left, rings the bell during a ceremony marking the debut of its shares in Riyadh

Aya Batrawy Saudi Arabia's oil company Aramco gained 10pc in its first moments on the stock market in a dramatic debut that held until closing and pushed its value up to $1.88trn (€1.7trn), surpassing Apple as the largest listed firm in the world.

Trading on the Saudi Tadawul stock exchange came after a mammoth $25.6bn initial public offering that set the record as the biggest in history, overtaking the $25bn raised by China's Alibaba in 2014.