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KUWAIT: Boursa Kuwait ended last week with mixed performance. The Price Index closed at 6,670.47 points, down by 1.22 percent from the week before closing, the Weighted Index decreased by 0.42 percent after closing at 400.71 points, whereas the KSX-15 Index closed at 911.07 points up by 0.52 percent. Furthermore, last week's average daily turnover increased by 3.04 percent, compared to the preceding week, reaching KD 15.27 million, whereas trading volume average was 150.94 million shares, recording an increase of 15.98 percent.

The Boursa ended the week's trading with mixed closings for the three indices, where the Price and Weighted indices continued recording losses to meet in the red zone for the second consecutive week, affected by the continued selling pressures and quick speculations in targeting the small-cap and mid-cap stocks, while the KSX-15 Index was able to end the week's trading in the green zone supported by the random purchasing operations that concentrated on some leading stocks, especially the ones that disclosed new periodic results.  Such performance came amid a continued decline in the trading levels of both the cash liquidity or the volume of the traded stocks, as the total traded liquidity during the last week increased by 3.04 percent only, while the volume increased by 15.98 percent, when compared to a week earlier.

As far as the daily trading, the three Boursa indices recorded steep losses in the first session of last week, considered the highest in one session in terms of points, since the beginning of the year, which came as a result to the strong selling pressures executed on most of the traded stocks during the session and headed by the leading and operational stocks, which contributed in losing the KSX-15 all its gains recorded since the beginning of the 2017, and caused the Price and Weighted Indices' gains to contract since the beginning of the year.  Also, the Boursa was able in the second session of the week to realize gains for the three indices and was able to compensate a part of its losses recorded in the previous session, supported by the return of the purchasing operations  once again, which included many listed stocks headed by the stocks that recorded noticeable decline in the previous session.

On the mid-week session, the market returned once again to the red zone, and the three indices recorded limited losses due to the profit collection operations executed on the small-cap stocks in particular.  However on Wednesday's session, the Boursa returned once again to increase and its indices were able to record good growth by the end of the session, supported by the positive trades witnessed by some leading stocks, in addition to the speculative operations that concentrated on the small-cap stocks. Moreover, the end of week session witnessed an increase in the three indices supported by the purchasing operations that concentrated on the leading stocks especially in the Telecommunication and Oil & Gas sectors.

Boursa Kuwait recorded during the last week over KD 153 million losses in market cap, as the value of the market cap for the total listed companies in the primary market reached KD 26.59 billion, down by 0.57 percent from its value in the previous week, where it was KD 26.75 billion.  On an annual level, the market cap gains contracted to reach 4.67 percent compared to its value at end of 2016, where it was KD 25.41 billion.

For the annual performance, the Price Index ended last week recording 16.05 percent annual gain compared to its closing in 2016, while the Weighted Index increased by 5.43 percent, and the KSX-15 recorded 2.94 percent growth.

Sectors' Indices

Seven of Boursa Kuwait's sectors ended last week in the red zone, while the other five recorded increases. The Consumer Services sector headed the losers list as its index declined 2.86 percent to end the week's activity at 865.52 points. The Financial Services sector was second on the losers' list, which index declined by 2.40 percent, closing 706.77 points, followed by the Real Estate sector, as its index closed at 948.59 points at a loss of 2.32 percent. The Industrial sector was the least declining as its index closed at 1,785.51 points with a 0.17 percent decrease.

On the other hand, Last week's highest gainer was the Technology sector, achieving 2.55 percent growth rate as its index closed at 699.03 points. Whereas, in the second place, the Health Care sector's index closed at 1,433.35 points recording 2.02 percent increase. The Insurance sector came in third as its index achieved 0.48 percent growth, ending the week at 1,068.26 points.

Sectors' Activity

The Financial Services sector dominated a total trade volume of around 288.30 million shares changing hands during last week, representing 38.20 percent of the total market trading volume. The Real Estate sector was second in terms of trading volume as the sector's traded shares were 30.95 percent of last week's total trading volume, with a total of around 233.55 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 24.55 million or 32.15 percent 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. KD 18.18 million representing 23.80 percent of the total market trading value.-Prepared by: Studies & Research Department - Bayan Investment Co.

BAYAN WEEKLY MARKET REPORT