KUWAIT CITY, March 13: For the second week in a row, Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) managed to display a stable performance, as it ended last week’s trades with a slight increase after recording daily fluctuations caused by selling pressures on one hand and purchase activities on the other. Profit taking transaction dominated the course of trading in some of the week’s sessions, following registered increases since the beginning of the year, especially during the month of February.
Nevertheless, traders’ selective buying activities played a prominent role in lessening the impact of profit reaping, despite the speculative nature of some of these transactions. On the other hand, annual general meetings for a number of listed companies were held during the past week, in which proposed annual profits distribution were approved.

At the same time, anticipation is mounting for listed companies’ annual results that have not been announced yet, with around three weeks remaining of the disclosure period for companies with fiscal years ending on the Dec 31. So far, 37 percent of companies listed in the regular market have announced their results for the year 2009, with total net profits amounting to KD 509.92 million, 24.21 percent lower than the same companies’ results in the year 2008.
By the end of the week, the price index closed at 7,457.9 points, up by 0.30 percent from the week before closing, whereas the weighted index registered a 0.14 percent weekly gain after closing at 434.14 points. On the other hand, average of daily turnover witnessed a 12 percent decline to reach KD 80.89 million, whereas trading volume average amounted to 531.11 million shares, at an increase of 6 percent compared to previous week’s levels.

Results
76 companies announced their results for the year 2009 with total net profits amounting to KD 509.92 million, 24.21 percent lower than the same companies’ results for the year 2008, which amounted to KD 672.83 million.
And as per 2009 announced results, the Services sector came in first in terms of average earnings per share (EPS) for its listed companies, which amounted to 100.39 Fils. The Food sector was second with an average EPS of 85.42 Fils, followed by the Non-Kuwaiti companies sector in the third place with 80.92 Fils, whereas the market’s overall average EPS is 57.44 Fils. On the other hand, and according to the announced results and last Thursday’s closing prices, KSE average P/E ratio is currently at 14.88.
Note: Averages are weighed to companies’ market capitalization.

Sectors’ Indices
Four of KSE’s sectors ended last week in the green zone, three recorded declines, whereas the Insurance sector’s index closed with no change from the week before. Last week’s highest gainer was the Investment sector, achieving 1.31 percent growth rate as its index closed at 5,837.3 points. Whereas, in the second place, the Real Estate sector’s index closed at 2,825.7 points recording 1.19 percent increase. The Food sector came in third as its index achieved 0.51 percent growth, ending the week at 4,814.2 points. On the other hand, the Banks sector headed the losers list as its index declined by 0.44 percent to end the week’s activity at 9,100.4 points. The Industry sector was second on the losers’ list, which index declined by 0.34 percent, closing at 6,041.2 points, followed by the Non-Kuwaiti companies sector, as its index closed at 7,483.1 points at a loss of 0.32 percent.
Sectors’ Activity
The Investment sector dominated total trade volume during last week with 983.68 million shares changing hands, representing 37.04 percent of the total market trading volume. The Real Estate sector was second in terms trading volume as the sector’s traded shares were 27.51 percent of last week’s total trading volume, with a total of 730.51 million shares. On the other hand, the Investment sector’s stocks where the highest traded in terms of value; with a turnover of KD 112.62 million or 27.85 percent of last week’s total market trading value. The Services sector took the second place as the sector’s last week turnover of KD 104.82 million represented 25.92 percent of the total market trading value.

Market Capitalization
KSE total market capitalization grew by 0.11 percent during last week to reach KD 32.82 billion, as five of KSE’s sectors recorded an increase in their respective market capitalization, whereas the other three recorded declines. The Services ?sector headed the growing sectors as its total market capitalization reached KD 9.28 billion, increasing by 1.71 percent. The Food sector was the second in terms of recorded growth with 1.70 percent increase after the total value of its listed companies reached KD 813.77 million.
The third place was for the Investment sector, which total market capitalization reached KD 3.32 billion by the end of the week, recording an increase of 1.02 percent. The Insurance sector was the least growing with 0.03 percent recorded growth after its market capitalization amounted to KD 319.72 million.
On the other hand, the Banks sector headed the decliners list as its total market capitalization decreased by 1.35 percent to reach, by the end of the week, around KD 11 billion. The Industry sector was second on this list, which market value of its listed companies declined by 0.55 percent, reaching KD 2.96 billion, followed by the Non-Kuwaiti companies sector, as its market capitalization amounted to KD 3.10 billion at a 0.48 percent decrease.