Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) displayed a solid performance during last week despite registering declines due to profit taking transactions on stocks that have grown in value in the week before. KSE price index closed at 7,378.8 points, down by only 0.24 percent from the week before closing, whereas the weighted index recorded a 0.13 percent weekly gain after closing at 424.15 points.
The market was stable at the beginning of the week and was able to record additional daily gains, as transactions varied between selling activities and selective purchase operations, causing KSE’s indices to fluctuate during Sunday and Monday’s sessions. Nevertheless, profit taking dominated the course of trading in the last two sessions of the week, as selling transactions intensified with the holiday of the National Day and Liberation Day approaching.
Furthermore, last week witnessed noticeable decrease in trading indicators following registered growth in two consecutive weeks, as average of daily turnover declined by 45.55 percent to reach KD 75.21 million, whereas trading volume average amounted to 450.52 million shares, at a decrease of 42.03 percent compared to previous week’s levels..
On the other hand, KSE ended the month of February with an increase in price index by 5.03 percent compared to January’s close, whereas weighted index registered a remarkable monthly gain of 13.50 percent. And in terms of year-to-date performance, both price index and weighted index grew by 5.33 percent and 10.21 percent respectively.

Sectors’ Indices
Five of KSE’s sectors ended last week in the red zone, while the other three recorded increases. The food sector headed the losers list as its index declined by 3.33 percent to end the week’s activity at 4,762.0 points. The Real Estate sector was second on the losers’ list, which index declined by 0.96 percent, closing at 2,8-6.6 points, followed by the Non-Kuwaiti companies sector, as its index closed at 7,473.0 points at a loss of 0.65 percent. The Insurance sector was the least declining as its index closed at 32,744.8 points with a 0.11 percent decrease.
On the other hand, last week’s highest gainer was the Industry sector, achieving 1.23 percent growth rate as its index closed at 5,966.0 points. Whereas, in the second place, the Banks sector’s index closed at 8,811.2 points recording 1.15 percent increase. The Investment sector came in third as its index achieved 0.08 percent, ending the week at 5,704.3 points.

Sectors’ Activity
The Investment sector dominated total trade volume during last week with 560.20 million shares changing hands, representing 31.09 percent of the total market trading volume. The Services sector was second in terms trading volume as the sector’s traded shares were 29.32 percent of last week’s total trading volume, with a total of 528.38 million shares. On the other hand, the services sectors’ stocks where the highest traded in terms of value; with a turnover of KD 112.50 million or 37.40 percent of last week’s total market trading value. The Investment sector took the second place as the sectors’ last week turnover of KD 60.08 million represented 19.97 percent of the total market trading value.

Market Capitalization
KSE total market capitalization grew by 0.16 percent during last week to reach KD 32.36 billion, as four of KSE’s sectors recorded an increase in their respective market capitalization, whereas the other four recorded declines. The Industry sector headed the growing sectors as its total market capitalization reached KD 2.96 billion, increasing by 1.77 percent. The Banks sector was the second in terms of recorded growth with 1.06 percent increase after the total value of its listed companies reached KD 10.80 billion. The third place was for the Non-Kuwaiti companies sector, which total market capitalization reached KD 3.13 billion by the end of the week, recording an increase of 0.79 percent.
On the other hand, the Food sector headed the decliners list as its total market capitalization reached KD 798.51 million, decreasing by 4.13 percent. The Services sector was the second in terms of recorded decline with 1.01 percent after the total value of its listed companies reached KD 9.07 billion. The third place was f or the Rea Estate sector, which total market capitalization reached KD 2.04 billion by the end of the week, recording a decline of 0.96 percent.