Kuwait Stock Exchange price index declines to lowest level in 18 months

Kuwait Stock Exchange's (KSE) price index declined to its lowest level in more than 18 months in last week's trading, closing at 6,753 points, down by 3.35 percent, said a report by First Securities Brokerage Company on Saturday.
The KSE ended Thursday's session in the green zone as the weighted index came to 456.55 points, gaining 0.12 points, the price index reached 6,776.09 points, gaining 0.65 points and the KSX 15 recorded 1,110.29 points, gaining 0.41 points.
The market value in Sunday's opening session trading dropped by KD 600 million, while the weighted and KSX 15 indices were not in a better condition, the report added.
Despite this, some indices recovered in the second and third sessions trading after a return of part of the paid-up activity buying on selected stocks and others affiliated to investment group. The KSE posted a rebound on overall sectors, but negative sentiment continued to cast a shadow on the index of investor confidence, it noted.
The report pointed out that these indices are clearly affected by oil prices, expecting that such indices are dominated by oil prices. So this will take time until the market is balanced again and investors abandon their broad cautious attitdue.
It noted the standard decline that happened in Sunday's trading was the first one since trading of April 2013 due to frantic scramble for selling.
Continued decline came in line with regional retreat that impacted on sentiment in Kuwait and pushed to move cautiously and selectively. It was a mood driven by low expectations of investors after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), last month, decided to maintain its production levels.
The increased selling pressure that affected many of the listed stocks contributed to deepening declines which led to a varied overall performance in overall sectors that have been traded during the rest of the sessions, it noted.
This comes in light of lack of incentives aimed at improving investors' expectations, while the KSE achieved some stability in the second trading session but it declined in the fourth session and closed higher, the report pointed out.
It stated that the reaction on decline in oil prices has raised widespread concerns among investors of the continuation of this situation. This increased caution and anticipation among market makers, especially in light of the random movements by some individuals due to fears of continued decline in oil prices on one hand and profit taking on the other, the report added.
By the end of last week's trading, sentiment rose relatively as national portfolio raised its purchasing activity in many closing sessions, but this activity is still limited and directed toward the selected stocks, the report concluded.