Kuwait to be added to S&P Dow Jones Global Benchmark Indices with EM classification

Kuwait’s stock market will be added to S&P Dow Jones Indices’ Global Benchmark Indices with an emerging market classification, Kuwait’s market regulator said on Thursday, citing the index provider.

It is the latest piece of good news for Kuwait, one of the standout performers in Gulf markets this year, and comes ahead of MSCI’s decision next year on whether to reclassify its Kuwait index from the current frontier-market status to its widely used emerging-market benchmark.

In a statement, cited by the Capital Markets Authority, S&P DJI said it recognised the progress Kuwait had made in trade clearing and settlement, including changing to a T+3 settlement cycle, meaning trades are settled within three days of execution, and establishing a delivery versus payment system.

It said the move would be effective before the market opens on September 23, 2019.

Boursa Kuwait, which took control of the Kuwait stock exchange in early 2016, introduced a number of reforms such as relaxing listing rules, delisting companies seen as unfit for public investment and segmenting the market with different disclosure requirements.

Index provider FTSE Russell will include 12 Kuwaiti stocks in two phases – September and December 2018 – which will result in a weighting of just over 0.5 per cent in its FTSE Emerging All Cap index.

Read: FTSE to upgrade Kuwait to emerging market in two stages