Boursa Kuwait ended last week in the green zone. The Price Index closed at 6,639.38 points, up by 1.20% from the week before closing, the Weighted Index increased by 0.80% after closing at 419.11 points, whereas the KSX-15 Index closed at 966.69 points up by 0.84%. Furthermore, the week’s average daily turnover increased by 21.28%, compared to the preceding week, reaching K.D 15.68 million, whereas trading volume average was 137.71 million shares, recording an increase of 31.78%.
The Boursa continued its upward direction that it initiated the current year with, as its three indices were able to continue recording gains in the third week of the year in light of the out-performance of the purchasing powers over the selling pressures that were present, amid the traders’ watch for the listed companies annual results for the financial year ended on 31 December 2017. The Boursa realized such gains despite the presence of the profit collection operations during some daily sessions of the week, where the red colour appeared on the Boursa indices more than once during some sessions, however the market overtook such operations and was able to end the week’s trading in the green zone.
In addition, the Boursa realized during the last week market gains above K.D. 195 million, as its market capitalization reached by the end of the week K.D. 28.09 billion, up by 0.70% compared to its level in the previous week, where it was K.D. 27.89 billion. Also, the market gains since the beginning of 2018 reached more that K.D. 1.15 billion, up by 4.26% compared to its value at last trading day of the last year, where it reached then K.D. 26.94 billion.(Note: The market capitalization for the listed companies in the Regular Market is calculated based on the average number of outstanding shares as per the latest available official financial statements).
Boursa Kuwait initiated its first sessions of the last week with relatively good gains for its three indices, especially the Price Index which was the best performer compared to its peers, the Weighted and KSX-15. Such performance came in light of a noticeable increased trading levels in the market, especially the trading value that recorded a growth of around 39% compared to the previous session. While on the second session, the Boursa indices continued realizing growth to its three indices, amid a continued increase in the trading value to reach K.D. 17.22 million, up by around 33% compared to the first session of the week, which came in light of the continued purchasing trend during this period, amid concentration on the purchasing operations on the leading and heavy stocks.
The Boursa witnessed on Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s session a trend of selling for profit collection operations and included many stocks that were previously traded, especially the ones witnessed different increases in the previous sessions, which was reflected on the three indices performance and pushed it to close in the red zone. On the end of week session, the market was able to return to the green zone once again, as its three indices recorded some gains by the end of the session, especially the Price Index, which benefited from the random purchasing operations and the quick speculations that concentrated on some small-cap stocks.
Sectors’ Activity
Nine of Boursa Kuwait’s sectors ended last week in the green zone, two recorded declines, whereas the Health Care sector’s index closed with no change from the week before. Last week’s highest gainer was the Consumer Services sector, achieving 3.09% growth rate as its index closed at 931.17 points. Whereas, in the second place, the Oil & Gas sector’s index closed at 995.38 points recording 2.32% increase. The Real Estate sector came in third as its index achieved 2.13% growth, ending the week at 997.95 points.
On the other hand, the Technology sector headed the losers list as its index declined by 3.10% to end the week’s activity at 480.48 points. The Consumer Goods sector was second on the losers’ list, which index declined by 0.71%, closing at 811.50 points.
Sectors’ Activity
The Real Estate sector dominated a total trade volume of around 185.61 million shares changing hands during last week, representing 26.96% of the total market trading volume. The Financial Services sector was second in terms of trading volume as the sector’s traded shares were 23.52% of last week’s total trading volume, with a total of around 161.98 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 26.15 million or 33.36% of last week’s total market trading value. The Industrial sector took the second place as the sector’s last week turnover was approx. K.D 17.19 million representing 21.93% of the total market trading value.