The Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) climbed 2.2 percent in the week closing Wednesday October 17, recovering slightly on the previous two weeks, which saw the index fall below the 1,600-point psychological barrier.
The KSE index closed at 1,625.8 points, reacting to a mild improvement on world markets, dealers said. It is up 20.5 percent on the year but still down 42.6 percent on its all-time high of November 1997.
The KSE last week shed 0.4 percent, taking the index below the 1,600-mark for the second consecutive week as uncertainty over the outcome of US-led strikes on Afghanistan gripped the market. The market is down 8.3 percent since the devastating September 11 terror attacks in the United States that left thousands dead.
Previously, the bourse had been booming, with the index rallying past 1,700 points for the first time since December 1998 after dropping to a five-year low in January. The rise was attributed to a number of government economic reform decisions and the strong price of oil, which supplies the emirate's budget with 90 percent of its revenue. The KSE is the second largest stock exchange in the Arab world in terms of capitalization after Saudi Arabia's NCFEI index. — (AFP, Kuwait City)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
