KUWAIT CITY, 28 December 2003 — Kuwaiti shares have doubled their gains since the start of the year as the index set a new all-time high surging past the 4,750-point mark in trading yesterday, traders said.
The Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) index finished the first trading day of the week at 4,757.10 points, up one percent on last week’s closing of 4,710.90 points.
The index is now a staggering 100.3 percent higher than its 2002 closing of 2,375.3 points, and is still the top gainer among all Arab bourses this year.
The index has been rising steadily since the overthrow of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in April and on the back of highly optimistic economic forecasts.
Economic reports have predicted that Kuwait will boast a record surplus at the end of the current fiscal year, which closes on March 31, 2004, after posting its second largest surplus in the last fiscal year.
Kuwait also continued a series of economic reforms, allowing foreign banks to operate in the local market and launching a campaign to lure foreign investment.
The volume of trading yesterday was 83.3 million dinars ($277.7 million) compared to 77 million dinars ($256.7 million) last week and to 91.9 million dinars ($306.3 million) the previous week.
The average trading value was $216 million during the first nine months of the year, $86.4 million last year and $48 million in 2001.
The Kuwait Stock Exchange is the second largest in the Arab world in terms of capitalization ($60 billion) after Saudi Arabia’s. It has 108 Kuwaiti and non-Kuwaiti listed firms.