The cost of insuring against a potential debt default by Saudi Arabia has soared by a sixth since the killing by a U.S. drone on Friday of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, bearing the brunt of a broader reaction in Middle Eastern markets. Conventional spreads on five-year Saudi credit default swaps (CDS) were at 64 basis points early on Monday, up from 55 bps on Jan. 2, according to IHS Markit. That jump was slightly higher than in September last year after an attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities that in its initial phases halved oil production in the kingdom, which is Iran’s arch-enemy in the region. The U.S. strike at Baghdad airport last Friday was seen by Tehran as an act of war and Iranian commanders have issued a range of retaliation threats since, although they have not offered any specifics about how they will […]