Tadawul begins fourth phase of FTSE inclusion today

The fourth phase of Saudi Arabia's inclusion in FTSE Russell Emerging Market Index will start today, Sept. 19, with an inclusion factor of 25 percent.

The Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) expects SAR 4.5 billion passive inflows after the completion of the fourth tranche. 

Additionally, the second tranche of Tadawul’s upgrade to the emerging markets on S&P DJI will take place today.

On June 20, Tadawul extended the closing auction session to 20 minutes. A total of 125.2 million shares changed hands in 8,590 transactions at a total value of SAR 5.21 billion.

FTSE Russell had earlier said Tadawul’s inclusion in the emerging markets index will take place in five tranches over the course of 12 months.

The first phase of the equity market's inclusion in FTSE index began on March 18, while the second one started on May 1.

On March 28, 2018, FTSE Russell promoted Saudi Arabia to emerging secondary market status, starting from March 2019. The inclusion is expected to be fully completed by March 2020.

The first tranche of Saudi Arabia’s inclusion in the S&P DJI Emerging Markets index also began in March.

Saudi Arabia is estimated to have an index weight of 0.25 percent in the FTSE Global Equity Index Series, and 2.7 percent in the FTSE Emerging All Cap Index.