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Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York:

Index provider MSCI said it will reclassify Argentina and Saudi Arabia as emerging markets, a significant decision for markets in both countries. MSCI also said it would include Kuwait on its review list for next year.

Every June, MSCI announces the results of its evaluation of the equity markets for countries around the world, to determine each country's classification as a developed, emerging, frontier or standalone market. The index provider says it makes its decisions in part based on investor experiences of accessibility, in addition to the presence of regulatory frameworks that are similar to those found in developed markets.

MSCI's decision to add Saudi Arabia to its emerging markets index comes a few months after the FTSE Russell reclassified the Kingdom as a "Secondary Emerging" market in March 2018. That decision made Saudia Arabia one of the largest constituent countries in FTSE Russell's global coverage. MSCI said that it decided to reclassify Saudi Arabia following additional reforms made by the Kingdom's Capital Market Authority (CMA) to align its stock market with others worldwide. The Saudi Arabia Index, with 32 securities, is expected to have a weighting of 2.6 % within the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.

Index providers have been quick to review efforts in Saudi Arabia to open up its financial markets as investors worldwide anticipate the public listing of Aramco. Saudi Arabia was first added to th......................

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