Boursa Kuwait ended last week with mixed closings, whereas the Price Index closed at 6,633.44 points, down by 0.43% from the week before closing, and the Weighted Index increased by 1.48% after closing at 415.78 points, however, the KSX-15 Index closed at 971.07 points up by 1.30%. Furthermore, last week’s average daily turnover increased by 12.53%, compared to the preceding week, reaching K.D 12.14 million, whereas trading volume average reached 48.73 million shares, recording a decrease of 2.40%.

The three Boursa indices witnessed a mixed weekly closings, whereas the Price Index continued recording losses for the fourth consecutive week, in light of the continued selling operations executed on some small-cap stocks, while the Weighted and KSX-15 indices were able to increase supported by the random purchasing operations that targeted some leading and heavy stocks. The market witnessed such performance in light of a fluctuated trading indicators, as the total volume declined during the week by 2.40% reaching 243.63 million share, while the total value grew by 12.53% reaching K.D. 60.69 million.

Also, the Boursa recorded market gains of over K.D. 175 million compared to the previous week, where its market capitalization reached by the end of the week around K.D. 27.41 billion against K.D. 27.24 billion in the preceding week, up by 0.65%. The market cap gains of Boursa Kuwait since the beginning of the current year reached around K.D. 475 million, up by 1.76% compared to its value at end of 2017, where it reached then K.D. 26.94.((Note: The market cap of the listed companies in the Primary Market is calculated based on the weighted average number of outstanding shares as per the latest available official financial statements).

As far as the daily trading activity during the last week, the Boursa witnessed in the first session a fluctuated performance for its three indices, whereas the Weighted and KSX-15 indices succeeded in realizing limited gains by the end of the session, supported by the collection operations that concentrated on a number of heavy stocks, while the Price Index went against the current and ended the session’s trading in the red zone in light of many traders’ tend to get rid of some small-cap stocks, especially the ones that delayed in disclosing its annual results for the financial year 2017. The Market performance did not differ in the second session of the week from the previous one, as the Price Index continued declining in light of the continued selling pressures on some small-cap stocks, while the Weighted and KSX-15 indices were able to maintain its positions in the green zone, supported by the continued purchasing operations executed on the operational stocks.

On the mid-week session however, the loss zone overwhelmed the three Boursa indices’ performance, where the Price Index continued its downward direction as a result to the speculative methodology over the small-cap stocks performance, while the Weighted and KSX-15 indices reversed its direction towards the red zone affected by the profit collection operations that some leading stocks were subject to.

Wednesday’s session witnessed a return of the Market to fluctuate, whereas the Price Index continued recording losses affected by the negative performance of the small-cap stocks, while the Weighted and KSX-15 indices were able to compensate its previous losses, supported by the return of the random purchasing operations that concentrated on some leading stocks. Thursday’s session witnessed a control of the green zone over the trading activity, and the three indices were able to realize grouped gains supported by the alterative purchasing operations that the end of month operations usually take, as it included most of the stocks being traded on during the session.

Moreover, last week witnessed a trading over 150 stock out of 176 listed stock in the Market , where 58 stock grew against 79 stock declined and 39 stock remained at no change.

For the annual performance, the Price Index ended last week recording 3.52% annual gain compared to its closing in 2017, while the Weighted Index increased by 3.58%, and the KSX-15 recorded a 6.14% growth.

Sectors’ Indices

Three of Boursa Kuwait’s sectors ended last week in the green zone, and eight recorded declines compared to its closings in the previous week, Whereas the Health Care sector’s index closed with no change from the week before. Last week’s highest gainer was the Consumer Goods sector, achieving 13.73% growth rate as its index closed at 866.61 points. Whereas, in the second place, the Telecommunications sector’s index closed at 592.04 points recording 11.94% increase. The Insurance sector came in third, as its index achieved 2.69% growth, ending the week at 1,000.03 points.

On the other hand, the Technology sector headed the losers list as its index declined by 8.42% to end the week’s activity at 485.31 points. The Oil & Gas sector was second on the losers’ list, which index declined by 3.73%, closing at 918.76 points, followed by the Real Estate sector, as its index closed at 1,124.49 points at a loss of 1.66%.

Sectors’ Activity

The Banks sector dominated a total trade volume of around 63.18 million shares changing hands during last week, representing 25.93% of the total market trading volume. The Financial Services sector was second in terms of trading volume as the sector’s traded shares were 23.58% of last week’s total trading volume, with a total of around 57.45 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 31.05 million or 51.16% 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. 9.28 million representing 15.29% of the total market trading value.