Boursa Kuwait ended last week with mixed zone. The Price Index closed at 6,825.70 points, up by 0.30% from the week before closing, the Weighted Index decreased by 1.11% after closing at 412.70 points, whereas the KSX-15 Index closed at 944.45 points down by 1.04%. Furthermore, last week’s average daily turnover decreased by 37.79%, compared to the preceding week, reaching K.D 8.98 million, whereas trading volume average was 60.75 million shares, recording a decrease of 30.18%.
The three stock indices witnessed a mixed closing affected by the different traders’ preference in the market, whereas the Price Index was able to realize small weekly increase, in light of the control of the speculative operations over many small-cap listed stocks. However, the Weighted and KSX-15 indices could not record gains, affected by the decline of some leading and operational stocks, especially in the Technology & Telecommunication sectors, as it witnessed profit collection operations caused it to drop by the end of the week. Also, it was noticed during the last week the return of the purchasing operations on some investment groups in the market, where it witnessed collection operations especially after its prices reached tempting levels, which positively reflected on the Price Index in particular.
The market witnessed such performance in light of general state of watch & cautious in trading by many investors, waiting for the listed companies disclosures of its first half financial data for the current year.
Moreover, the Boursa lost more than K.D. 300 million in the last five sessions, whereas the total value of the listed stocks in the primary market reached by the end of last week K.D. 27.28 billion, against K.D. 27.58 billion at the end of the earlier week, down by 1.09%. On an annual level, the market cap gains reached 7.35% compared to its value at end of 2016, where it reached then K.D. 25.41 billion. (Note: The market cap for the listed companies in the primary market is calculated based on the average outstanding shares as per the latest available financial statements)
As per the daily trading activity; Sunday session witnessed a decline of the three indices affected by the strong selling operations that many traded stocks were subject to, especially in the Banks sector, in addition to the continued profit collection operations executed on some small-cap stocks. On Monday session, the market witnessed mixed closings of the three indices, whereas the Price Index was able to realize good gains that enabled it to compensate its previous session’s loss, supported by the purchasing powers and the speculative operations that concentrated on the small-cap stocks in particular, while the profit collection operations continued its control over the trading of the leading and operational stocks, which pushed the Weighted and KSX-15 indices to drop for the second consecutive session.
On the mid-week session, the fluctuation continued to control over the trading behavior but with changing positions, as the Price Index could not continue its upward direction and closed by the end of the session in the red zone affected by the quick profit collection operations executed on the small-cap stocks, while the Weighted and KSX-15 indices succeeded in increasing supported by the return of the purchasing operations on some heavy stocks.
On Wednesday’s session, the market indices returned once again to close in the red zone, amid a selling trend that included many stocks of different sectors, especially after the increases it witnessed in the previous sessions; such decline came despite the growth in the market trading activity compared to the previous session, whereas the value increased by around 14%, and the volume grew by around 15%. In addition, the Boursa witnessed on Thursday’s session a return of its three indices to fluctuate, as the Price Index and KSX-15 Index were able to end the last session of the week in the green zone, while the Weighted Index went against the current and closed the session with some loss. Such performance came amid a decline in the trading levels compared to Wednesday’s session, as the volume decreased by about 27%, and the value contracted by around 25%.
For the annual performance, the Price Index ended last week recording 18.75% annual gain compared to its closing in 2016, while the Weighted Index increased by 8.58%, and the KSX-15 recorded 6.72% growth.
Sectors’ Indices
Six of Boursa Kuwait’s sectors ended last week in the green zone, while the other six recorded decreases. Last week’s highest gainer was the Health Care sector, achieving 11.48% growth rate as its index closed at 1,683.91 points. Whereas, in the second place, the Oil & Gas sector’s index closed at 1,090.94 points recording 7.75% increase. The Insurance sector came in third as its index achieved 3.49% growth, ending the week at 1,056.43 points.
On the other hand, The Technology sector headed the losers list as its index declined 10.98% to end the week’s activity at 625.78 points. The Telecommunications sector was second on the losers’ list, which index declined by 2.40%, closing 595.30 points, followed by the Banks sector, as its index closed at 943.73 points at a loss of 1.36%.
Sectors’ Activity
The Financial Services sector dominated a total trade volume of around 122.07 million shares changing hands during last week, representing 40.19% of the total market trading volume. The Real Estate sector was second in terms of trading volume as the sector’s traded shares were 24.28% of last week’s total trading volume, with a total of around 73.77 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 17.77 million or 39.56% 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 10.83 million representing 24.12% of the total market trading value.