Kuwait stocks continue bearish trend

Trading volume average 95.05 million shares, down 14.89%

Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) ended last week in the red zone. The Price Index closed at 5,623.69 points, down by 1.10% from the week before closing, the Weighted Index decreased by 1.19% after closing at 391.40 points, whereas the KSX-15 Index closed at 902.16 points down by 1.38%. Furthermore, last week’s average daily turnover decreased by 6.57%, compared to the preceding week, reaching KD 12.43 million, whereas trading volume average was 95.05 million shares, recording a loss of 14.89 %.

The three stock market indicators closed in the red zone for the third consecutive week, as a result of the continued negative factors in controlling the traders’ behavior in the market, especially in light of the continued decline in the oil prices and the negative expected future impact of such prices, as the market recorded losses in light of the selling trend that it has been witnessing for some time, and it is including many stocks of different sectors, especially the leading stocks in Telecommunication and Consumer Goods sectors, which were the most declining among all the market sectors during the last week.

As per the daily trading activity for the market, the first session of the week witnessed mixed closings to the three indicators, whereas only the KSX-15 was able to realized limited gains as a result to the random purchasing operations that concentrated on some heavy stocks, whilst the Weighted and Price indices decreased, especially the latter that recorded a noticeable loss due to the continued strong selling pressures concentrated on the small-cap and mid-cap stocks, in addition to the active speculative operations that has been going on for few week.

However on the next session, the market was subject to the continued influence of the strong selling pressures which caused most of the previously traded stocks to decline, therefore the three market indices dropped steeply and the Price Index reached its lowest closing level since 2004; such performance was accompanied by an increased liquidity levels that crossed 50%.

On Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s sessions, the market was able to end it with limited gains, which came as a result to the support received by the return of the purchasing operations executed on some leading stocks which declined earlier and reached tempting levels for purchase, in addition to the quick speculations operations that concentrated on a number of small-cap stocks.

Also, the market could not, at the end of week session, continue its positive performance that it witnessed in the previous two sessions, to end it with different losses for the three indices, among a noticeable decline in the trading indicators, especially the liquidity level, which dropped by more than 35% at the end of the session.

The market capitalization for KSE reached by the end of the last week KD 25.4 billion, declining by 1.77% compared to its level in a week earlier, which was KD 25.86 billion.

On an annual level, the market cap for the listed companies in KSE declined by 9.21% from its value at end of 2014, where it reached then KD. 27.98 billion.

As far as KSE annual performance, the Price Index ended last week recording 13.95% annual loss compared to its closing in 2014, while the Weighted Index decreased by 13.10%, and the KSX-15 contracted by 14.89%.

Sectors’ Indices

All of KSE’s sectors ended last week in the red zone except for one sector. The Telecommunications sector headed the losers list as its index declined by 6.34% to end the week’s activity at 589.05 points. The Consumer Goods sector was second on the losers’ list, which index declined by 3.29%, closing at 1,052.09 points, followed by the Basic Materials sector, as its index closed at 959.96 points at a loss of 3.27%. The Industrial sector was the least declining as its index closed at 1,060.26 points with a 0.11% decrease. On the other hand, the Health Care sector was last week only gainer, which index grew by 2.46%, closing at 968.40 points.

Sectors’ Activity

The Financial Services sector dominated a total trade volume of around 173.28 million shares changing hands during last week, representing 36.46% of the total market trading volume.

The Real Estate sector was second in terms of trading volume as the sector’s traded shares were 28.76% of last week’s total trading volume, with a total of around 136.70 million shares.

On the other hand, the Telecommunications sector’s stocks were the highest traded in terms of value; with a turnover of around KD 19.10 million or 30.72% of last week’s total market trading value. The Banks sector took the second place as the sector’s last week turnover was approx. KD 15.63 million representing 25.14% of the total market trading value.

For further details, please visit our web site: www.bayaninvest.com