Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) managed to keep recording gains, to end the week in the green zone, as both market main indices recorded gains. The market price index ended last week with an increase amounted to 0.92 percent, while the weighted index increased by 0.16 percent compared to the closings of the week before. In addition, last week’s average daily turnover increased by 3.96 percent, compared to previous week, reaching K.D 41.62 million, whereas trading volume average was 161.09 million shares, recording decline of 46.16 percent. KSE managed to record these results in spite of its loss in 3 trading days, thanks to its performance on Tuesday and Thursday.

On the other hand, since the period of first half of 2010 results announcement has ended on Sunday; the last 2 days from that period witnessed intensive announcements from the listed companies. As a result, cautious trades were notable in the market in the first couple of days, whereas the investors needed to read large number of companies’ financials to set their new investment targets for the near future.

In addition, Banks sector was the main player in the last week, as its stocks had notable influence on the daily market trades, as it was a subject for buying deals on one hand, and profit taking on the other. Moreover, the investors watched closely the government discussion about the available methods to finance the development plan, due to its effect on the Kuwaiti Economy and KSE as well.
By the end of the week, the price index closed at 6,682.0 points, up by 0.16 percent from the week before closing, whereas the weighted index registered a 0.92 percent weekly gain after closing at 430.36 points.

Sectors’ Indices
Five of KSE’s sectors ended last week in the red zone, while the other three recorded increases. The Real Estate sector headed the losers list as its index declined by 0.53 percent to end the week’s activity at 2,319.9 points. The Investment sector was second on the losers’ list, which index declined by 0.52 percent, closing at 4,720.7 points, followed by the Food sector, as its index closed at 4,712.1 points at a loss of 0.36 percent. The Services sector was the least declining as its index closed at 14,749.7 points with a 0.16 percent decrease. On the other hand, last week’s highest gainer was the Banks sector, achieving 4.01 percent growth rate as its index closed at 10,046.5 points. Whereas, in the second place, the Insurance sector’s index closed at 2,361.2 points recording 1.54 percent increase. The Non Kuwaiti companies sector came in third as its index achieved 0.03 percent growth, ending the week at 6,882.6 points.

Sectors’ Activity
The Real Estate sector dominated total trade volume during last week with 240.08 million shares changing hands, representing 29.81 percent of the total market trading volume. The Banks sector was second in terms trading volume as the sector’s traded shares were 21.19 percent of last week’s total trading volume, with a total of 170.67 million shares. On the other hand, the Banks sector’s stocks where the highest traded in terms of value; with a turnover of K.D. 124.04 million or 59.61 percent of last week’s total market trading value. The Services sector took the second place as the sector’s last week turnover of K.D. 29.80 million represented 14.32 percent of the total market trading value.

Market Capitalization
KSE total market capitalization grew by 0.83 percent during last week to reach K.D. 31.77 billion, as four of KSE’s sectors recorded an increase in their respective market capitalization, whereas the other four recorded declines. The Banks sector headed the growing sectors as its total market capitalization reached K.D. 12.21 billion, increasing by 2.74 percent. The Insurance sector was the second in terms of recorded growth with 1.49 percent increase after the total value of its listed companies reached K.D. 279.98 million. The third place was for the Industry sector, which total market capitalization reached K.D. 2.77 billion by the end of the week, recording an increase of 0.49 percent.

On the other hand, the Food sector headed the decliners list as its total market capitalization reached K.D. 750.37 million, decreasing by 1.98 percent. The Real Estate sector was the second in terms of recorded decline with 0.95 percent decrease after the total value of its listed companies reached K.D. 1.71 billion. The third place was for the Investment sector, which total market capitalization reached K.D. 2.64 billion by the end of the week, recording a decline of 0.63 percent.