Tadawul's inclusion in MSCI index boosts foreign investments

The net volume of foreign investment in Saudi Arabia’s stock market (Tadawul) following last week’s announcement by MSCI Inc appears to be accelerating.

For the week ending May 16, foreign investors bought a net SAR 3.9 billion, the largest net buying in one week in over two years, according to data from UAE-based Lighthouse Research.

This was also nearly four times larger than the weekly average net buying by this investor class since the start of this year, and represents the 20th consecutive week of net purchases, the report by Lighthouse Research added.

Also read: MSCI announces inclusion of Saudi Arabia in Emerging Market index

Last week, Global index provider MSCI Inc announced it would include the MSCI Saudi Arabia Indexes in Emerging Markets Indexes. The changes will take place as of the close on May 28, 2019.

“The Index Inclusion story is the dominant theme for the outlook for foreign investors, and is outweighing below-trend economic growth, rising geopolitical risks and ongoing challenges with implementing many reforms such as Saudization which will remain headwinds in second half,” Jean-Paul Pigat, Founder, Lighthouse Research, told Argaam.