Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange Tadawul is experiencing an influx of foreign funds and expects even more in the future, confident that this will enable the bourse to accommodate the listing of state energy giant Aramco without any liquidity problems, Tadawul’s head Khalid al-Hussan told Reuters. There has been worry both in Saudi Arabia and abroad that Tadawul will not be able to take in the placement of Aramco shares without suffering a major strain: the local market’s total capitalization is just US$500 billion and Riyadh eyes Aramco IPO proceeds of US$100 billion. Even more conservative estimates of what Aramco’s proceeds might look like—around US$50 billion—have analysts worried the local bourse might not be able to accommodate it without becoming illiquid. Al-Hussan, however, is optimistic the bourse will be able to withstand the deal. “Foreign investors are putting in more money — every day we have improved liquidity capacity,” he […]