Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) ended last week in the red zone. The Price Index closed at 5,788.74 points, down by 0.10% from the week before closing, the Weighted Index decreased by 0.12% after closing at 394.11 points, whereas the KSX-15 Index closed at 939.12 points down by 0.47%. Furthermore, last week’s average daily turnover decreased by 38.04%, compared to the preceding week, reaching K.D 9.72 million, whereas trading volume average was 108.78 million shares, recording a loss of 17.11 %.
The stock market witnessed a sort of weak performance last week forced its three indices to end the weekly trading with mixed losses, that came in light of the selling pressures witnessed by the market during most of the daily sessions of the week, for profit collection purposes, and were concentrated on the stocks of previous different gains realized in a week earlier, especially the leading and heavy stocks in the Healthcare and the Telecommunication sectors, which negatively affected the Weighted and KSX-15 indices in particular, to be the most losing indices by the end of last week. Also, the market witnessed such performance in light of the noticeable decline in the trading rates, especially the value which reached in one daily session its lowest level since last July.
As far as the daily trading activity, the first session of the last week witnessed a mixed performance for the three indices, whereas the Price Index was able to realize a slight increase in light of a limited purchasing activity on the small-cap stocks, whilst the profit collection operations pushed the Weighted and KSX-15 indices to close in the red zone. However, the second session witnessed a decline to all the market indices in light of an increased selling operations on the leading stocks, with an increased liquidity level.
On Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s sessions, the market returned for its mixed performance whereas the purchasing and quick speculative operations on some small-cap stocks returned once again, which caused the Price Index to improve somehow, whilst the profit collection operations continued to push the Weighted and KSX-15 to close in the losses area. On the end of week trading session, the stock market indicators witnessed mixed closings also, however with changing positions, as the Price Index declined due to the selling operations that concentrated on some small-cap stocks, while the Weighted and KSX-15 indices increased, among a limited fluctuated performance.
The market cap for KSE reached by the end of the last week K.D. 26.15 billion, decreasing by 0.26% compared to its level in a week earlier, which was K.D. 26.22 billion. On an annual level, the market cap for the listed companies in KSE recorded a decline of 6.53% from its value at end of 2014, as it reached then K.D. 27.98 billion.
As far as KSE annual performance, the Price Index ended last week recording 11.43% annual loss compared to its closing in 2014, while the Weighted Index decreased by 10.20%, and the KSX-15 contracted by 11.40%.
Sectors’ Indices
Six of KSE’s sectors ended last week in the green zone, while the other six recorded declines. Last week’s highest gainer was the Consumer Services sector, achieving 2.57% growth rate as its index closed at 1,051.59 points. Whereas, in the second place, the Oil & Gas sector’s index closed at 791.01 points recording 1.13% increase. The Industrial sector came in third as its index achieved 0.46% growth, ending the week at 1,074.35 points.
On the other hand, the Health Care sector headed the losers list as its index declined by 4.56% to end the week’s activity at 939.52 points. The Financial services sector was second on the losers’ list, which index declined by 1.01%, closing at 628.78 points, followed by the Real Estate sector, as its index closed at 971.43 points at a loss of 0.92%.
Sectors’ Activity
The Financial Services sector dominated a total trade volume of around 221.82 million shares changing hands during last week, representing 40.78% of the total market trading volume. The Real Estate sector was second in terms of trading volume as the sector’s traded shares were 24.32% of last week’s total trading volume, with a total of around 132.25 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 12.54 million or 25.80% 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 10.29 million representing 21.17% of the total market trading value.