KUWAIT CITY, 14 December 2003 — Kuwaiti shares put last week’s slight decline behind them yesterday by surging past the 4,600-point psychological barrier to set yet another all-time record high, traders said.
The Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) index closed the week’s opening trading day on 4,615.20 points, up 0.7 percent on last week’s closing of 4,581.10 points.
The index is now a whopping 94.3 percent higher than its 2002 closing of 2,375.3 points, and maintaining its position as the top gainer among all Arab bourses this year.
The market last week experienced its first losses following six weeks of strong gains, mainly because of profit-taking sales.
The Kuwaiti market has been rising on the back of highly positive economic indicators including high oil prices, prospects of a budget surplus and the promise of lucrative contracts in Iraq’s reconstruction.
Traders now believe the index might cruise beyond the 5,000-point mark before the end of the year, barring unexpected developments. The value of trading yesterday was 90.7 million dinars ($302.2 million), up on last week’s average daily trading of 55.4 million dinars ($184.7 million).
The average trading value was $216 million during the first nine months, $86.4 million last year and $48 million in 2001.
The KSE is the second largest stock market in the Arab world in terms of capitalization ($59 billion) after Saudi Arabia’s bourse. It has 108 Kuwaiti and non-Kuwaiti listed firms.
