Boursa Kuwait ends in green zone

KUWAIT: Boursa Kuwait ended last week in the green zone. The Price Index closed at 6,788.48 points, up by 1.62 percent from the week before closing, the Weighted Index increased by 1.87 percent after closing at 404.62 points, whereas the KSX-15 Index closed at 922.29 points up by 1.65 percent. Furthermore, the week’s average daily turnover increased by 28.60 percent, compared to the preceding week, reaching KD 11.93 million, whereas trading volume average was 77.78 million shares, recording an increase of 60.34 percent.

The Boursa was able to redirect its path to the upward direction and its three indices were able to realize different gains by the end of the week, especially the Price Index which benefited from the noticeable speculative activity on the small-cap and idle stocks, that been traded below 100 Fils, and witnessed a noticeable decline over the last period, which made it tempting for purchase. Also, some leading stocks witnessed a purchasing activity that was reflected on the performance of the Weighted and KSX-15 indices, that accompanied the Price Index in the green zone during this week.

In addition, the Boursa gained over KD 480 million during the last five sessions, as the market capitalization for the listed companies in the official market reached KD 26.72 billion, up by 1.83 percent from its level in the previous week, where it was KD 26.24 billion. On an annual level, the market cap gain for the listed companies in the official market increased to reach 50.16 percent compared to its value at end of 2016, where it was KD 25.41 billion.

As per the daily trading activity, the Boursa Kuwait initiated the first session of the week with different gains to the three indices, especially the Price Index, which increased by more than 43 point as a result to the quick and active speculations that concentrated on the small-cap stocks, in addition to the support that market received from the random purchasing operations targeted some leading stocks, though the market gains came despite the decline in the liquidity levels by the end of the session, whereas the value decreased by 13.8 percent.

Moreover, the market continued realizing gains for its three indices in the second session of the week amid a continued control of the speculative behavior over the trading activity, in addition to the strong collection move on a number of leading stocks, especially in the Banks sector. Such performance came in light of a noticeable increase in the trading activity compared to the previous session, especially the cash liquidity, as it recorded by the end of the session a growth of around 90 percent.

On the mid-week session, the Boursa Kuwait continued realizing increase for the three indices supported by the strong purchasing trend that included many leading and small-cap stocks, in addition to the quick speculative operations that concentrated on some idle stocks. Such performance came amid a continued increase in the three indices, especially the volume and the value, which increased by 13 percent and 15 percent respectively by the end of the session.

On Wednesday’s session, the Price Index and the Weighted Index closed in the green zone for the fourth consecutive session during the same week, as the KSX-15 Index ended the session without change, and came in light of a limited decline in the cash liquidity by the end of the session, as it dropped by around 12 percent compared to Tuesday’s session. On the end of week session, the three indices closed in the red zone, affected by the profit collection operations executed by many traders, especially after the noticeable increases of some stocks during the previous sessions.

For the annual performance, the Price Index ended last week recording 18.10 percent annual gain compared to its closing in 2016, while the Weighted Index increased by 6.45 percent, and the KSX-15 recorded 4.21 percent growth.

Sectors’ Indices

All of Boursa Kuwait’s sectors ended last week in the green zone. Last week’s highest gainer was the Telecommunications sector, achieving 5.18 percent growth rate as its index closed at 598.27 points. Whereas, in the second place, the Oil & Gas sector’s index closed at 1,036.75 points recording 2.49 percent increase. The Real Estate sector came in third as its index achieved 2.42 percent growth, ending the week at 945.06 points. The Insurance sector was the least growing as its index closed at 1,010.17 points with a 0.03 percent increase.

Sectors’ Activity

The Financial Services sector dominated a total trade volume of around 154.98 million shares changing hands during last week, representing 39.85 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 29.65 percent of last week’s total trading volume, with a total of around 115.33 million shares. On the other hand, the Financial Services sector’s stocks were the highest traded in terms of value; with a turnover of around KD 46.68 million or 32.54 percent of last week’s total market trading value. The Real Estate sector took the second place as the sector’s last week turnover was approx. KD 39.22 million representing 27.34 percent of the total market trading value.