EFG-Hermes says good chance that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait will be upgraded to emerging market status by FTSE - The National

EFG-Hermes says good chance that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait will be upgraded to emerging market status by FTSE  - The National:

"There is a good chance that both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait will both be upgraded to emerging market status by the index provider FTSE as early as September because of reforms undertaken in both countries by market regulators, according to the Egyptian investment bank EFG-Hermes.  "We see a strong chance of an upgrade for Kuwait and Saudi Arabia," said Mohamad Al Hajj and Simon Kitchen, analysts at the bank. "We believe Kuwait returns could be stronger as it is the least anticipated of the two, and we are overweight on Kuwait and underweight on Saudi Arabia."  An upgrade by FTSE of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to emerging market status would attract about $4.5 billion (Dh16.5bn) into both markets, according to EFG. Of that, Saudi Arabia, which is expected to account for 2.5 per cent of FTSE's EM Index, would account for $3.75bn. and Kuwait, which may make up 0.5 per cent of the index, would attract $740m. "



'via Blog this'