Boursa Kuwait equities fall as investor confidence drops

KUWAIT: Boursa Kuwait ended last week in the red zone. The Premier Market Index closed at 4,687.71 points, down by 1.64 percent, the Main Market Index decreased by 1.13 percent after closing at 4,809.20 points, whereas the All-Share Index closed at 4,731.35 points down by 1.45 percent. Furthermore, last week’s average daily turnover increased by 2.41 percent, compared to the preceding week, reaching KD 7.56 million, whereas trading volume average was 39.07 million shares, recording a decrease of 4.64 percent.

The Boursa performance was weak in general during the last week, as the negative impact remains over controlling the trading activity, amid continued low confidence rates of many investors, in addition to the noticeable decline in the trading activity, especially the cash liquidity, which decreased in one session of the week to its lowest levels in about two years, that came in light of the refrain of some portfolios and investment funds from purchase, in addition to the effect of the holy month of Ramadan, where trading activity drops in general.

Also, the selling operations witnessed by the Market during the last week included many traded stocks, especially the stocks of the companies that disclosed positive fiscal results for the first quarter of the current year, while the selling pressures included some leading stocks too, which contributed to the increase in the three Market indices’ losses and pushed it to close in the red zone for the second consecutive week.

The Boursa recorded a weekly loss of around KD 380 million, as its market capitalization by the end of the week reached to KD 26.05 billion, against KD 26.43 billion in the previous week, down by 1.44 percent. The Boursa market cap losses since the market segmentation phase reached KD 1.81 billion, down by 6.48 percent. (Note: The market cap for the listed companies in the Market is calculated based on the average weighted number of outstanding shares as per the latest available official financial statements).

Moreover, last week witnessed trading over 146 stock out of 175 listed stock in the Market, where prices of 46 stock increased against prices of 85 stock decreased, and prices 44 stock remained at no change.

Sectors’ indices

Ten of Boursa Kuwait’s sectors ended last week in the red zone, two recorded increases. Last week’s highest loser was the Basic Materials sector, as its index declined by 3.83 percent to end the week’s activity at 1,033.39 points. The Industrial sector was second on the losers’ list, which index declined by 2.79 percent, closing at 955.16 points, followed by the Insurance sector, as its index closed at 911.44 points at a loss of 2.55 percent. The Telecommunications sector was the least declining as its index closed at 802.77 points with a 0.12 percent decrease.

On the other hand, the Oil & Gas sector headed the gainers list as its index achieving 0.82 percent growth rate as its index closed at 1,004.64 points. Whereas, in the second place, the Health Care sector’s index closed at 999.63 points recording 0.40 percent increase.

Market records a weekly loss of around KD 380m

Sectors’ activity

The Financial Services sector dominated a total trade volume of around 66.91 million shares changing hands during last week, representing 34.27 percent of the total market trading volume. The Banks sector was second in terms of trading volume as the sector’s traded shares were 28.88 percent of last week’s total trading volume, with a total of around 56.37 million shares.

On the other hand, the Banks sector’s stocks were the highest traded in terms of value; with a turnover of around KD 19.50 million or 51.60 percent of last week’s total market trading value. The Industrial sector took the second place as the sector’s last week turnover was approx. KD 5.11 million representing 13.52 percent of the total market trading value.