Bourse ends in green zone as volume surges
Boursa Kuwait ended last week in green zone. The Price Index closed at 6,805.31 points, up by 0.36% from the week before closing, the Weighted Index increased by 2.36% after closing at 417.34 points, whereas the KSX-15 Index closed at 954.42 points up by 2.48%. Furthermore, last week’s average daily turnover increased by 40.73%, compared to the preceding week, reaching K.D 20.32 million, whereas trading volume average was 126.77 million shares, recording an increase of 45.68%.
The three Boursa indices were able to end the week’s trading in the green zone supported by the heavy purchasing operations that targeted some leading stocks, especially in the Banks sector, in addition to the speculative operations that concentrated on the small-cap stocks and the idle stocks, especially the ones priced less than its book-value. The market witnessed such performance during the last week amid an optimism in the half-year results of many listed companies, especially for the leading companies’ stocks, which positively reflected on the performance of the Weighted and KSX-15 indices in particular, which were able to realize large increases during the week to reach its highest levels since last April. The positive performance for the Boursa during the last week came in parallel with the increase in the trading activity, compared a week earlier, especially the cash liquidity which was the highest, as it reached 43.31%.
As a result to the good performance, the Boursa was able to add more than K.D. half billion to its market capitalization during the last five sessions, as the total value for the listed stocks in the official market reached by the end of last week K.D. 27.58 billion, against K.D. 26.96 billion at the end of the previous week, up by K.D. 610.09 million and by 2.26%. On an annual level, the gains of the market cap reached 8.52% compared to its value at end of 2016, where it reached then K.D. 25.41 billion. (Note: the market capitalization for the listed companies in the primary market is calculated based on the average number of outstanding shares as per the latest available financial statements)
As per the daily trading activity, Boursa Kuwait initiated the first session of the last week recording different gains for the three indices, amid a noticeable increase in the trading activity, especially the cash liquidity, which recorded a growth of 28.95% to reach by the end of the session around K.D. 21.4 million, supported by the purchasing activity that was present during the session and the collection operations that concentrated on the leading stocks, in addition to the quick speculations executed on some small-cap stocks. On the next session, the Boursa continued its gains, and the three indices were able to end the session in the green zone supported by the continued strong purchasing power that concentrated on the leading and heavy stocks, in addition to the quick speculative operations on some small-cap stocks, amid a continued increase in the value for the second consecutive session, to reach more than K.D. 25 million.
The Boursa continued its active performance in the mid-week session and was able to realize gains for the three indices amid the continued purchasing operations in controlling the trading activity, and the concentration of the traders over the leading stocks which disclosed positive results for the first half of the year, in addition to the continued quick speculation on a number of smallcap stocks.
On Wednesday, the Boursa witnessed mixed closings for the three indices, whereas the Price Index and the Weighted index were able to continue realizing small gains at the end of the session, supported by the active speculations and the random purchasing operations executed on a number of small-cap stocks and some heavy stocks, while KSX-15 Index declined affected by the profit collection operations that targeted some leading and operational stocks that falls within the Index. The end of week session witnessed mixed performance with changing positions, as the Price Index and the Weighted Index fell under the influence of the profit collection operations to close at the end of the session in the red zone, while the KSX-15 Index was able to return to the green zone supported by the positive trading witnessed by some leading stocks.
For the annual performance, the Price Index ended last week recording 18.39% annual gain compared to its closing in 2016, while the Weighted Index increased by 9.80%, and the KSX15 recorded 7.84% growth.
Nine of Boursa Kuwait’s sectors ended last week in the green zone, while the other three recorded decreases. Last week’s highest gainer was the Banks sector, achieving 3.55% growth rate as its index closed at 956.70 points. Whereas, in the second place, the Basic Materials sector’s index closed at 1,263.25 points recording 1.94% increase. The Telecommunications sector came in third as its index achieved 1.88% growth, ending the week at 609.91 points.
On the other hand, The Consumer Goods sector headed the losers list as its index declined 4.65% to end the week’s activity at 1,023.35 points. The Industrial sector was second on the losers’ list, which index declined by 0.39%, closing 1,887.23 points, followed by the Consumer Services sector, as its index closed at 1,040.94 points at a loss of 0.17%.
The Financial Services sector dominated a total trade volume of around 240.11 million shares changing hands during last week, representing 37.88% of the total market trading volume. The Real Estate sector was second in terms of trading volume as the sector’s traded shares were 29.37% of last week’s total trading volume, with a total of around 186.16 million shares.
On the other hand, the Banks sector’s stocks were the highest traded in terms of value; with a turnover of around K.D 44 million or 43.31% of last week’s total market trading value. The Financial Services sector took the second place as the sector’s last week turnover was approx. K.D 22.75 million representing 22.39% of the total market trading value.
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