KUWAIT CITY, 4 October 2007 — Forty-three of the 190 firms listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange made an unprecedented protest yesterday about decisions by the bourse’s management they said was detrimental to the economy.
The companies, which include firms owned by major merchant families, published a joint advertisement in the press criticizing several steps recently taken by the bourse.
These included suspending trading of some stocks, allowing listed firms to raise capital on only three occasions during the life of the company and refusing requests to list firms without specifying reasons.
The latest measure was a decision by the bourse committee this week to suspend trading in stocks of firms if they had merged with companies whose requests for listing were earlier rejected.
The protesters said the various decisions had a negative impact on the economy and could force a number of Kuwaiti firms to leave for other stock markets.
They called on the management to reverse the decisions, which they claimed are illegal, adding that they undermined plans to transform Kuwait into a regional financial and trade center.
The bourse management did not immediately comment.
MP Ali Al-Omair yesterday urged Commerce and Industry Minister Falah Al-Hajeri to intervene and resolve the crisis, and threatened to question him in parliament.
However, Kuwaiti shares ignored the dispute and cruised to a new record high at the end of trading yesterday, on the back of abundant liquidity and some speculation.
The KSE Index rose just 30 points to finish trading at 12,959.20 points, surpassing the previous record high of 12,950.80 points set on Sept. 23.
The index is now a healthy 28.7 percent above its 2006 close of 10,067.40 points. It ended last year down 12 percent after rising having risen steadily for five straight years. Volume of traded shares exceeded 404 million worth KD154 million sealed through 9,186 transactions.
Six out of KSE’s eight indices gained, with the real estate sector in the lead after going up 56 points, followed by the non-Kuwaitis with 51 points, then the insurance sector with 34 points.