Global equities index provider S&P Dow Jones Indices will change the status of Saudi Arabia’s $530 billion equity market, the biggest in the Arabian Gulf, to an emerging market in 2019.
S&P DJI took the decision to upgrade Saudi Arabia’s standalone status “in response to recent positive market structure reforms to support foreign investment and a strong consensus among members of the investment community”, It said in a statement.
The classification change will become effective in two phases: from the beginning of March 2019, the quarterly rebalancing of S&P DJI and the second in the annual reconstitution of indexes in September 2019, the index provider said.
S&P Dow Jones Indices is the third index complier to elevate Saudi Arabia’s market to emerging market status. These upgrades are expected to bring tens of billions of dollars of investment to Saudi equities from global money managers which track these gauges.
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Read more:
Saudi Arabia wins MSCI emerging market status
Saudi MSCI inclusion will raise foreign stock ownership and boost inflows
Saudi Arabia set to win MSCI emerging market status in June, says EFG Hermes
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FTSE Russell in March this year upgraded Saudi Arabia after the kingdom implemented a series of reforms to develop its capital markets in line with its Vision 2030 economic diversification strategy.
MSCI in June also followed suit with a similar move that will pave the way for an estimated $40 billion of additional flows to the Saudi stock exchange, known as Tadawul.
The MSCI Inclusion will take place in two phases, in May and August 2019. The index compiler has given Saudi stocks a representative weighting on a pro forma basis of approximately 2.6 per cent of its emerging market index, with 32 securities included in the gauge.
The potential listing of a 5 per cent stake in Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest oil producer, in 2019 would further cement the Middle East's international profile, raising the kingdom's weighting to "up to 4.4 per cent", Sebastien Lieblich, the MSCI's managing director and global head of equity solutions, told The National in June.
Saudi Arabia has been making key steps to clinch the emerging market status.
In January, the Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority made it easier for international investors to buy publicly-traded companies by halving the minimum requirement of qualified foreign investors to $500 million from $1 billion.
As well as introducing T+2 settlement, which means that securities settle two days after they are bought, the CMA has also introduced Nomu, a parallel market for qualified investors as well enabling securities borrowing and lending, and the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards for listed companies.
'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
Set-jetting on the Emerald Isle
Other shows filmed in Ireland include: Vikings (County Wicklow), The Fall (Belfast), Line of Duty (Belfast), Penny Dreadful (Dublin), Ripper Street (Dublin), Krypton (Belfast)
Know your cyber adversaries
Cryptojacking: Compromises a device or network to mine cryptocurrencies without an organisation's knowledge.
Distributed denial-of-service: Floods systems, servers or networks with information, effectively blocking them.
Man-in-the-middle attack: Intercepts two-way communication to obtain information, spy on participants or alter the outcome.
Malware: Installs itself in a network when a user clicks on a compromised link or email attachment.
Phishing: Aims to secure personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
Ransomware: Encrypts user data, denying access and demands a payment to decrypt it.
Spyware: Collects information without the user's knowledge, which is then passed on to bad actors.
Trojans: Create a backdoor into systems, which becomes a point of entry for an attack.
Viruses: Infect applications in a system and replicate themselves as they go, just like their biological counterparts.
Worms: Send copies of themselves to other users or contacts. They don't attack the system, but they overload it.
Zero-day exploit: Exploits a vulnerability in software before a fix is found.
TERMINAL HIGH ALTITUDE AREA DEFENCE (THAAD)
What is THAAD?
It is considered to be the US's most superior missile defence system.
Production:
It was created in 2008.
Speed:
THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.
Abilities:
THAAD is designed to take out ballistic missiles as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".
Purpose:
To protect high-value strategic sites, such as airfields or population centres.
Range:
THAAD can target projectiles inside and outside the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 150 kilometres above the Earth's surface.
Creators:
Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.
UAE and THAAD:
In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then stationed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.
Know your camel milk:
Flavour: Similar to goat’s milk, although less pungent. Vaguely sweet with a subtle, salty aftertaste.
Texture: Smooth and creamy, with a slightly thinner consistency than cow’s milk.
Use it: In your morning coffee, to add flavour to homemade ice cream and milk-heavy desserts, smoothies, spiced camel-milk hot chocolate.
Goes well with: chocolate and caramel, saffron, cardamom and cloves. Also works well with honey and dates.
