Emerging Market

MSCI Emerging Markets Index – How is the GCC placed?

With a total market capitalization of USD 8.3 trillion, the MSCI Emerging Markets (EM) Index has emerged as one of the most important global indices tracked by many ETFs and mutual funds. Inclusion in the index has become sought after not only due to the potential inflows from overseas funds, but also the credibility it gives to the included country’s capital markets. Weightage of GCC nations in the MSCI EM index is quite low Among the GCC, companies from UAE...

MSCI includes Kuwait stocks in their Emerging Markets indices

Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI), the world’s largest index provider, reclassified Kuwait to ‘Emerging Markets’ status from ‘Frontier Markets’. The inclusion to the Emerging Market Index took place on Nov. 30, 2020 after market close, while the deletion of Kuwaiti securities from the Frontier Markets 100 index will be phased over five successive index reviews. The implementation was originally slated to take place in May 2020 but was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Seven Kuwaiti Stocks have been added...

GCC’s inclusion in J.P. Morgan’s EM Bond Index: The “Hurray” Moment

J.P. Morgan has recently said that Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar sovereign bonds would be added to its Emerging Market Bond Index (EMBI) from January 2019, a decision that can potentially bring up to USD 60 billion of active and passive inflows, according to analysts. In order to qualify for index membership, the maturity of the debt should be greater than one year with a minimum face value of USD 500 million. Low correlation of GCC bonds seen...