Standard & Poor’s Dow Jones will place the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) in a higher orbit of ‘emerging market’ from Monday, following the local bourse’s upgrade from frontier status.

S&P’s decision to re-classify Qatar as an emerging market was announced last October following a consultation with clients; and it comes after similar moves by Morgan Stanley Composite Index (MSCI).

S&P Dow Jones said the weight of the Qatari market in the international BMI index for emerging markets would be 0.9%.

QSE chief executive Rashid bin Ali al-Mansoori termed this announcement as a “positive” step that would improve the visibility and performance of the stock market in Qatar.

“This upgrade has been achieved as a result of arduous and ongoing efforts to develop the financial market infrastructure, especially with regard to the development of the regulatory and legal framework in Qatar under the supervision of the Financial Markets Development Commission and in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030,” al-Mansoori said.

The QSE official hoped that this development will further open the door to additional investments by global portfolios in the shares of Qatari companies.

“This will have a positive impact across the various economic sectors of the country and will bolster the reputation of the Qatari market as a safe and stable investment environment,” he said. The bourse, which is slated to see more listings and the advent of exchange traded funds, is hopeful that as much QR5bn foreign funds will gradually flow into the bourse after the upgrade by both the entities.

Al-Mansoori expressed his confidence in the remarkable developments of the QSE, the excellent performance of Qatari listed companies, and the positive outlook for the global investment institutions regarding the Qatari market as evidenced by this announcement.

Many foreign institutional investors are now eyeing established listed companies, especially considering that Qatar’s HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani recently issued a decree allowing a higher up to 49% foreign ownership limit in the listed companies.

“The new directive issued by Qatar’s Emir to raise foreign ownership in Qatari stocks by investors outside the GCC nations to 49% from the current 25% will proof positive for the Qatari stock market,” Deutsche Bank (DB) had said in a note.

Foreign institutional investors’ net buying has reached new highs and the market is expected to strengthen in the future, considering that sooner or later foreign brokerage companies or remote memberships are expected to make its way into the domestic bourse. Page 3

 

 

 

 

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