RIYADH: The Saudi stock market was up four per cent Wednesday on news that King Salman had named his powerful son as heir and that the exchange had moved closer to joining a major global index.

The Saudi Tadawul index, the largest in the Middle East, surged 4.12pc in early afternoon trading after Salman ousted his nephew as crown prince and installed his son Mohammed bin Salman.

Trader confidence was also up after the Tadawul announced that global stock benchmark provider MSCI had added the exchange to its Emerging Market Index Watch List.

Saudi Arabia is the only major emerging economy not represented in the index.

The Watch List designation brings “anticipated MSCI Index inclusion now one step closer,” Khalid al-Hussan, CEO of the Saudi bourse, said in the statement.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2017