Qatar, UAE gain index status upgrade

Qatar, UAE gain index status upgrade

Published: June 13, 2013

Move by MSCI will open door to greater investment. 

MSCI, the index provider, has upgraded Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to emerging market status. The move up from frontier status should open the door to greater inflows as investors with lower risk appetites start to move in. According to calculations by HSBC, the upgrade could see the two markets attract US$800mn-worth of new investment.

Qatar’s stock exchange rose to its highest level in five years on the back of the news, while the UAE exchange rose to levels not seen since 2009, Bloomberg reports.