KUWAIT CITY, 20 September 2004 — The Kuwait Stock Exchange, which has made solid gains since the US-led war on Iraq, rallied above the 6,000-point psychological barrier yesterday to a new all-time high on the back of an optimistic economic outlook, analysts said. The index of the Arab world’s second largest bourse finished at 6,017.70 points, up 43 points or 0.7 percent on last week’s close. Yesterday was the first day of trading in the five-day week since Saturday was a public holiday. On an upward trend since 2000, the market has risen 90.8 percent since the April 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in neighboring Iraq. It has already gained 25.6 percent on its 2003 close of 4,790.20 points. “It’s all-round positive indicators that have boosted investor confidence,” said analyst Ali Al-Nimesh. Kuwait’s Finance Minister Mahmud Al-Nuri told an economic seminar Sunday that having shaken off security concerns following Saddam’s overthrow, his country will now focus more on economic development. “Now the government is more concerned with developing the infrastructure of public services and will be offering mega projects to the private sector due to the financial surplus generated by oil revenues,” Nuri said.