Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) ended last week in the green zone. The Price Index closed at 5,230.44 points, up by 0.03% from the week before closing, the Weighted Index increased by 0.34% after closing at 361.04 points, whereas the KSX-15 Index closed at 852.87 points up by 0.28%. Furthermore, last week’s average daily turnover decreased by 31%, compared to the preceding week, reaching K.D 12.59 million, whereas trading volume average was 186.04 million shares, recording a decrease of 8.76%.
As far as KSE’s performance over the last week; the three stock market indicators were able to realize different gains by the end of the week, however were humble, as a result to the random purchasing operations that included many stocks of different sectors, especially the heavy and leading stocks in the Banks and Financial Services sectors, which positively affected the three indices performance, and pushed it to close in the green zone. Also, the market gains of last week came despite the noticeable decline in the trading activity compared to a week earlier, especially the market cash liquidity that dropped by 31%.
Furthermore, Kuwait Stock Exchange initiated the first session of the week with noticeable losses for the three indicators due to the sharp selling pressures witnessed by a number of stocks in most of the market sectors, especially the stocks in the Insurance and Telecommunication sectors, among a noticeable decline in the cash liquidity levels reached 44.39%. On the second session of the week, the market continued its losses for the three indicators, however at a slower pace, due to the continued selective selling operations executed on some listed stocks especially the low-priced ones, whereas the Price Index dropped to reach its lowest level since around the end of last February, however the active purchasing activity witnessed by some leading stocks, contributed into decreasing the market losses to some point, in light of a relatively quiet trading activity.
On the mid of week session, the market witnessed a mixed performance for the three indicators, whereas the Price Index continued recording losses, however limited, in light of the quick selling and speculative operations that were executed on some small-cap stocks, whilst the random purchasing operations executed on a limited number of the operational stocks, assisted the Weighted and KSX-15 indices to realize some gain by the end of the session, among a low trading activity, especially the volume, which dropped by 30.94%.
On Wednesday’s session, the market was able to hold and realize limited gain by the end of the session, whereas the three indicators met for the first time during the week in the green zone. Such performance came in light of the active purchasing operations that concentrated on the leading stocks, among a noticeable increase in the trading activity. Moreover, the market succeeded in continuing its upward direction, as the three indicators were able to close in the green zone by the end of the week, supported by the active purchasing operations executed on a number of stocks in most of the market sectors, especially the Technology and Insurance sectors, which helped the market in sustaining its weekly gains.
In addition, the market capitalization reached K.D. 23.45 billion by the end of last week, increasing by 1.93% compared to its level in a week earlier, where it was K.D. 23.01 billion; however on the annual level, the market cap for the listed companies in KSE decreased by 7.18% from its value at the end of 2015, where it reached then K.D. 25.27 billion.
As far as KSE annual performance, the price index ended last week recording 6.85% annual loss compared to its closing in 2015, while the weighted index decreased by 5.41%, and the KSX-15 recorded 5.28% loss.
Sectors’ Indices
Seven of KSE’s sectors ended last week in the green zone, while the other five recorded declines. Last week’s highest gainer was the Technology sector, achieving 5.43% growth rate as its index closed at 954.25 points. Whereas, in the second place, the Telecommunications sector’s index closed at 617.49 points or 1.72% increase. The Health Care sector came in third as its index achieved 1.55% growth, ending the week at 927.08 points. The least growing sector was the Real Estate sector, as its index closed at 824.56 points increasing by 0.31%.
On the other hand, the Insurance sector headed the losers list as its index declined by 2.89% to end the week’s activity at 1,041.15 points. The Industrial sector was second on the losers’ list, which index declined by 1.71%, closing at 968.14 points, the least declining sector was the Consumer Goods sector, as its index closed at 1,067.65 points at a loss of 0.02%.
Sectors’ Activity
The Financial Services sector dominated a total trade volume of around 281.06 million shares changing hands during last week, representing 30.21% of the total market trading volume. The Real Estate sector was second in terms of trading volume as the sector’s traded shares were 28.84% of last week’s total trading volume, with a total of around 268.28 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 23.71 million or 37.65% 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 13.06 million representing 20.74% of the total market trading value.