Boursa Kuwait gains on positive sentiment
KUWAIT: Boursa Kuwait ended last week in the green zone. The Price Index closed at 5,668.49 points, up by 1.42 percent from the week before closing, the Weighted Index increased by 1.35 percent after closing at 378.35 points, whereas the KSX-15 Index closed at 889.68 points up by 1.93 percent. Furthermore, the week’s average daily turnover increased by 9.57 percent, compared to the preceding week, reaching KD 17.79 million, whereas trading volume average was 214.38 million shares, recording an increase of 29.18 percent.
The three stock indices were able to close in the green zone for the second consecutive week, which came amid the continued purchasing trend that is concentrating this period on the leading and operational stocks which is expected to announce positive financial results for the year 2016. The purchasing operations witnessed by the Boursa during most of the daily sessions of the week were reflected on the performance of all the market indicators, especially the Price Index which was able to compensate all its losses recorded since the beginning of the year, where it ended the week’s trading activity with an annual growth of 0.95 percent.
As per the daily trading activity; the three Boursa indices witnessed growth in the first session of last week, supported by the active trading and the random purchasing operations that included many listed stocks headed by the leading ones in the Banks sector, in addition to the speculative operations that included few small-cap stocks; the Boursa realized such gains despite the decrease in the trading activity compared to the previous session, where the liquidity level declined by the end of the session by 26 percent, while the traded stocks volume dropped by 15 percent.
The three Boursa indices continued recording grouped gains for the second consecutive session amid the continued purchasing operations executed on many listed stocks especially the leading and operational ones, which contributed into redirecting the Price Index to the green zone on an annual level, where it compensated all its losses recorded since the end of 2015, amid a noticeable growth in the trading indicators compared to the previous session, where the liquidity level increased by 51 percent, and the traded stocks grew by 35 percent. Also, the Boursa continued its upward direction in the mid-week session, as the three indices grew by the end of the session amid a drop in the trading indicators compared to the previous session, where the value declined by 44 percent, and the volume decreased by 18 percent.
Boursa Kuwait witnessed on Wednesday’s session a mixed closings for the three indices, as the Weighted and KSX15 indices declined affected by the profit collection operations that included some leading stocks, while the Price Index was able to continue its upward direction, which is been adopting since the beginning of the week, in light of the purchasing operations witnessed in the last few moments of the session , and concentrated on some smallcap stocks. This performance came in light of the increased trading levels compared to the previous session, where the financial liquidity grew by 36 percent, while the volume increased by 43 percent.
On the end of week session, the fluctuation continued to over control the indices’ closings for the second consecutive session, with changing positions, where the Weighted and KSX-15 indices were able to return to the green zone supported by the return of the purchasing operations on the leading stocks, while the Price Index declined affected by the profit collection operations executed on the small-cap stocks.
By the end of the week, the market capitalization for the listed stocks in the primary market reached KD 26.20 billion, up by 2.22 percent compared to its level in a week earlier, where it reached then KD 25.63 billion. On an annual level, the market cap for the listed companies in the primary market grew by 3.69 percent from its value at end of 2015, where it reached then KD 25.27 billion.
As far as Boursa Kuwait annual performance, the price index ended last week recording 0.95 percent annual gain compared to its closing in 2015, while the weighted index decreased by 0.88 percent, and the KSX-15 recorded 1.19 percent loss.
Ten of Boursa Kuwait’s sectors ended last week in the green zone, while the other two recorded declines. Last week’s highest gainer was the Real Estate sector, achieving 2.69 percent growth rate as its index closed at 874.95 points. Whereas, in the second place, the Basic Materials sector’s index closed at 995.21 points recording 2.17 percent increase. The Industrial sector came in third as its index achieved 1.78 percent growth, ending the week at 1,290.62 points.
On the other hand, the Technology sector headed the losers list as its index declined by 0.86 percent to end the week’s activity at 612.15 points. The Insurance sector was second on the losers’ list, which index declined by 0.51 percent, closing at 945.61 points.
The Financial Services sector dominated a total trade volume of around 417.73 million shares changing hands during last week, representing 38.97 percent of the total market trading volume. The Real Estate sector was second in terms of trading volume as the sector’s traded shares were 36.43 percent of last week’s total trading volume, with a total of around 390.51 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 28.26 million or 31.78 percent 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. KD 20.53 million representing 23.09 percent of the total market trading value.