ShareMarket cap gains marginally despite fluctuations
KUWAIT: Boursa Kuwait ended last week with mixed performance. The Price Index closed at 6,662.11 points, down by 0.26 percent from the week before closing, the Weighted Index increased by 1.76 percent after closing at 438.29 points, whereas the KSX-15 Index closed at 1,028.73 points up by 3.14 percent. Furthermore, last week's average daily turnover decreased by 45.04 percent, compared to the preceding week, reaching KD 31.61 million, whereas trading volume average was 165.92 million shares, recording an increase of 56.79 percent.
The fluctuation witnessed by Boursa Kuwait during the last week came in parallel with the optimism state witnessed by the investment arena in the market after the official promotion of Boursa Kuwait to the Secondary Emerging market by FTSE Russell, which was reflected on the performance of the Weighted and KSX-15 indices, to realize good growth by the end of the week, supported by the active purchasing operations that concentrated on the leading and operational stocks, while the Price Index continued recording losses for the third consecutive week, however limited, in light of the continued quick speculations for profit collection, that the small-cap stocks were subject to, which formed a pressure factor on the Index and pushed it to decline by the end of the week.
The market capitalization's gains for Boursa Kuwait during the last five sessions reached KD 400 million, as it reached by the end of last week KD 29.27 billion, up by 1.38 percent compared to its level in a week earlier, where it reached KD 28.87 billion. On an annual level, the market cap gains for the listed companies in the Primary Market since the beginning of the year reached 15.21 percent compared to its value at end of 2016, where it was KD 25.41 billion. (Note: The market cap for the listed companies in the Primary Market is calculated based on the average number of outstanding shares as per the latest available financial statements).
As per the daily trading activity for the Boursa; the market initiated the week's trading with mixed closings to the three indices, amid a noticeable growth in the three trading levels, especially the value which increased by approximately 79 percent, as both of the Weighted and KSX-15 indices were able to realize increases in light of the active purchasing trend that targeted a number of leading stocks in the market, while the Price Index dropped in light of the continued profit collection operations on some small-cap stocks that witnessed a clear growth during the previous weeks. The second session witnessed a continued fluctuation of the three indices, as the Price Index was able to join KSX-15 Index in the green zone after a limited fluctuated performance with an upward trend, while the Weighted Index declined slightly by the end of the session; such performance came amid a decreased trading activity compared to the previous session, where the cash liquidity dropped by around 37 percent, and the volume declined by 22 percent.
The fluctuation continued to be in control over the closings of the market indices in the mid-week session, as the Price Index's performance dropped due to the selling pressures that targeted some low-priced and idle stocks, especially at the end of the session and the auction period, while the purchasing and collection operations witnessed by the leading stocks contributed in pushing the Weighted and KSX-15 indices to close in the green zone, amid a noticeable improvement in the market cash liquidity levels.
On Wednesday's session, the three market indices were able to realize gains for the first time since the beginning of the week, as a result to the collection movement executed by the investment groups, and the continued purchasing activity on the heavy stocks, amid continued increase in the trading activity on both levels, the value and the volume. On the end of week session, the fluctuation returned once again, as the Weighted and KSX-15 indices closed in the green zone supported by the continued purchasing operations that targeted some heavy stocks, which enhanced the weekly gains of the indices, while the profit collection operations returned to push the Price Index to close in the red zone.
For the annual performance, the Price Index ended last week recording 15.90 percent annual gain compared to its closing in 2016, while the Weighted Index increased by 15.31 percent, and the KSX-15 recorded 16.24 percent growth.
Sectors' Indices
Seven of Boursa Kuwait's sectors ended last week in the green zone, four recorded declines, whereas the Health Care sector's index closed with no change from the week before. Last week's highest gainer was the Insurance sector, achieving 1.73 percent growth rate as its index closed at 1,135.62 points. Whereas, in the second place, the Real Estate sector's index closed at 961.95 points recording 1.45 percent increase. The Banks sector came in third as its index achieved 1.35 percent growth, ending the week at 968.70 points.
On the other hand, the Technology sector headed the losers list as its index declined by 4.12 percent to end the week's activity at 549.67 points, followed by the Industrial sector, as its index closed at 1,737.66 points at a loss of 2.97 percent. The Consumer Services sector was the least declining as its index closed at 928.47 points with a 0.49 percent decrease.
Sectors' Activity
The Financial Services sector dominated a total trade volume of around 359.03 million shares changing hands during last week, representing 43.28 percent of the total market trading volume. The Banks sector was second in terms of trading volume as the sector's traded shares were 21.55 percent of last week's total trading volume, with a total of around 178.75 million shares.
On the other hand, the Banks sector's stocks were the highest traded in terms of value; with a turnover of around KD 63.86 million or 40.40 percent of last week's total market trading value. The Telecommunications sector took the second place as the sector's last week turnover was approx. KD 40.49 million representing 25.62 percent of the total market trading value. -- Prepared by: Studies & Research Department - Bayan Investment Co.
BAYAN WEEKLY MARKET REPORT
