Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) ended last week in the red zone. The Price Index closed at 6,843.53 points, down by 0.13% from the week before closing, the Weighted Index decreased by 0.72 % after closing at 425.36 points, whereas the KSX-15 Index closed at 970.40 points down by 1.75%. Furthermore, last week’s average daily turnover decreased by 23.09%, compared to the preceding week, reaching K.D 59.89 million, whereas trading volume average was 621.07 million shares, recording a decrease of 28.91%.
Following five consecutive weeks of increases, the three indices of Boursa Kuwait recorded different losses due to the profit collection operations executed on many listed stocks, headed by the leading and operational stocks which witnessed large increases lately. The Boursa recorded its losses in light of the trading indicators’ decline during the last week, of both the volume or the value, compared to its levels in the previous week, whereas the total volume reached 3.11 billion share, down by 28.91%, while the total value reached K.D. 299.43 million, down by 23.09%, compared to the earlier week’s trading. The market capitalization reached at the end of last week K.D. 27.17 billion, down by 4.91% compared to its level in a week earlier, where it reached then K.D. 28.57 billion (note: delisting the United Poultry Co. last week from the Boursa contributed to the decline in the market cap by about K.D. 20 million, which is the total market cap of the mentioned company).
The Boursa initiated its first session of the week with noticeable growth for the three indices, especially KSX-15 which was able to return to the high 1000 point level that it was launched with on mid of 2012, where it came in light of the purchasing trend that included a wide range of listed stocks, especially the leading and operational ones. Also, the speculative operations that concentrated on the small-cap stocks being traded below its par value, contributed to the Boursa’s gains by the end of the session. The market witnessed such performance amid an increased liquidity which broke the K.D. 75 million level up.
Moreover, the Boursa Kuwait decreased on Monday’s and Tuesday’s sessions, where the three indices closed in the red zone for the first time since around last December, affected by the selling operations that many investors executed for profit collection purposes, especially after the inflation in many listed stocks’ prices over the previous weeks, as such operations concentrated on the leading and heavy stocks of the market, in addition to some small-cap stocks that witnessed clear price increases lately, amid declines in the trading levels on both the volume or the value levels.
On Wednesday’s session, the first day of February, the three Boursa indices were able to return once again to record gains in a fluctuated performance, that came in light of the quick speculative operations that included some small-cap stocks, in addition to the partial operations executed on a number of the leading stocks. However, the Boursa returned on the end of week session to drop again, and its three indices closed in the red zone affected by the continued profit collection operations that concentrated on the leading stocks in particular, which was reflected on the performance of KSX-15 Index, the most declining index compared to the Price and Weighted indices.
For the annual performance, the price index ended last week recording 19.06% annual gain compared to its closing in 2016, while the weighted index increased by 11.91%, and the KSX-15 recorded 9.65% growth.
Sectors’ Indices
Eight of KSE’s sectors ended last week in the red zone, while the other four recorded increases. The Technology sector headed the losers list as its index declined by 6.48% to end the week’s activity at 849.08 points. The Telecommunications sector was second on the losers’ list, which index declined by 4.45%, closing at 689.11 points, followed by the Banks sector, as its index closed at 956.0 points at a loss of 3.99%. The Insurance sector was the least declining as its index closed at 1,121.72 points with a 0.47% decrease.
On the other hand, last week’s highest gainer was the Basic Materials sector, achieving 9.49% growth rate as its index closed at 1,300.39 points. Whereas, in the second place, the Industrial sector’s index closed at 1,477.92 points recording 1.44% increase. The Financial Services sector came in third as its index achieved 1.02% growth, ending the week at 801.08 points.
Sectors’ Activity
The Financial Services sector dominated a total trade volume of around 1.17 billion shares changing hands during last week, representing 37.63% of the total market trading volume. The Real Estate sector was second in terms of trading volume as the sector’s traded shares were 36.08% of last week’s total trading volume, with a total of around 1.12 billion shares.
On the other hand, the Financial Services sector’s stocks were the highest traded in terms of value; with a turnover of around K.D 80.92 million or 27.02% 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. K.D 72.27 million representing 24.13% of the total market trading value.