Standard & Poors Dow Jones Launch a Stand Alone County Index for Palestine and The Palestine Exchange is under the radar of FTSE Indices

S&P Dow Jones announced on 18 December 2013 that it has added coverage of Palestine to its suite of frontier market indices. The Palestine index is currently a standalone country index. Palestine will remain on S&P Dow Jones Indices watch-list for potential future inclusion in the S&P Frontier BMI and Dow Jones Global Total Stock Market.

In the same context, FTSE Indices informed the PEX that in 2014, FTSE will be reviewing the eligibility of including Palestine as a Frontier market within the FTSE Country Classification scheme.

On these developments, CEO of the Palestine Exchange Ahmad Aweidah said:

“I am happy with the progress we have made in the past few years. The PEX has an advanced investor protection regime that is committed to maintaining consistent disclosure by all listed companies and compliance with IFRS by all participants. Listed companies maintain good performance; there is constant growth in their financial performance as well as in their profitability and cash dividend payouts. PEX offers a rewarding cash dividend yield; an average of 6.53% over the past five years, the highest amongst MENA exchanges and a relatively low P/E Ratio of leading stocks.

Aweidah hoped that this inclusion will increase the PEX exposure, attract more international investment and enhance the exchange’s liquidity.

It is noted that Morgan Stanly International Capital (MSCI) launched in June 2013 a stand alone country index for Palestine, the MSCI Palestine IMI Index consists of four listed companies namely PALTEL Group, Bank of Palestine, PADICO Holding and Wataniya Mobile.