Saudi Arabia is 25th country to join MSCI EM Index

Index provider MSCI upgraded Saudi Arabia to emerging market from its previous standalone market status in its annual market classification review on Wednesday. Saudi Arabia will represent the 25th country to be included in the index.

MSCI's Emerging Market Index consists of large- and mid-cap securities in 24 emerging markets, including China, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Hungary, Poland, the Philippines, Russia, Qatar, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and UAE.

The MSCI Saudi Arabia Index will have a weighting of approximately 2.6 percent in the Emerging Markets Index, with 32 securities, and it is expected to rise following the IPO of Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Saudi Aramco).

MSCI China accounts for the largest weighting of around 31.74 percent of the emerging markets, followed by South Korea at 15.36 percent.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index has 845 constituents, with a market value of approximately $5.27 trillion as on May 31, 2018, and an average capitalization of $6.24 billion.

Tencent Holding is the MSCI China index largest heavyweight in terms of market value amounting to $290.05 billion as on May 31, 2018.