Dubai — Oil has denied Saudi Arabia the opportunity to overtake SA as the biggest stock market in the Middle East and Africa, even as political turmoil and a faltering economy hold back share prices in Johannesburg. The total market capitalisation of the South African bourse was $489bn on Friday, about $25bn more than that of Riyadh’s. The JSE’s main index has advanced 10% in 2017, about five times the gain in Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul all share index. The kingdom’s market reforms, designed to attract foreign investors, have been countered by the effects of a lower oil price, its main source of income. "While SA’s politics is improving a bit and the economy is now out of recession, oil prices haven’t gone up," said Didier Rabattu, the head of equities at Lombard Odier Asset Management in Geneva, who manages a $920m emerging markets equities fund. "And Saudi Arabia’s inclusion to MSCI emerging markets is still pretty remote." Saudi shares erased losses for the year in June, when index c...
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