SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) began trading on Friday following the world’s largest initial public offering, sending ripples across global markets already watching oil prices slide.
The company priced more than 555 million shares at $135 each in a filing with the US markets regulator on Thursday, securing a valuation of just under $1.8 trillion.
That figure places SpaceX in the top 10 of Wall Street’s biggest firms, surpassing Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), Facebook-owner Meta (NASDAQ: META), and Walmart (NYSE: WMT) in market capitalization.
Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare said before markets opened that SpaceX shares were expected to soar above the IPO price, because the offering was heavily oversubscribed.
“But just how high it goes is the great unknown, along with how the performance of the stock might direct things for the broader market,” O’Hare said.
The Nasdaq, on which SpaceX shares are listed, dipped at the open, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 edged higher in early trading.
A sharp decline in oil prices to under $90 per barrel also helped bolster sentiment across equity markets on both sides of the Atlantic.
US President Donald Trump claimed on Thursday that an agreement to end the Middle East war could be signed within days, and canceled previously threatened strikes against Iran.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Tehran “had not reached a final conclusion on the agreement,” while state media reported Tehran would not give up control over the Strait of Hormuz under a draft deal.
Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said “investors were in a buoyant mood as hopes of a peace deal between the US and Iran were revived, having seemingly dropped off the table earlier in the week.”
“Whether momentum can be sustained depends on positive noises about a resolution translating into something more solid in the coming days,” Coatsworth added.
The international benchmark Brent crude fell more than two percent to around $88 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate dropped 2.8 percent to $85.26 a barrel.
Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, cautioned that “oil markets may be breathing a little easier, but the path back to smoother flows could take us into the latter part of the year.”
“Even if a deal is reached, getting supply back to normal will not be as simple as flicking a switch, with mines in the Strait of Hormuz to clear, idled production fields to restart and damaged energy infrastructure to repair,” Britzman said.
Europe’s main markets gained more than one percent in afternoon trading, with London’s FTSE 100 rising 1.2 percent, Paris’s CAC 40 climbing 1.7 percent, and Frankfurt’s DAX gaining 1.3 percent.
Asian markets posted strong gains, with Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 closing up 2.8 percent at 66,020.04, while Seoul’s Kospi ended the session more than four percent higher, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.9 percent.
