Kuwait Share Index Hits All-Time High

KUWAIT, 25 April 2005 — Kuwait’s stock exchange started the holiday-shortened trading week yesterday on a high note, ending above 8,500 points for the first time in its history as investors welcomed a new raft of stellar first quarter earnings. The Kuwait Stock Exchange index rose 105.30 points, or 1.24 percent, to 8,568.40, a lifetime high for the gauge of 137 mostly-Kuwaiti companies. The market was closed Saturday for holiday. Some 46 stocks gained while 25 lost yesterday. Volume came in at just over 224 million shares, off recent levels. The market index surged 101 percent and 34 percent in 2003 and 2004, respectively.