Kuwait stock market witnesses profit-collecting operations last week - report

KUWAIT, April 19 (KUNA) -- Traders at Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) attempted last week to sell shares for profit-collecting purposes following a week of solid gains, however they neglected small-cap stocks thus causing losses almost the entire week.
The stock market closed last Thursday with its three indices in the red: the price index by 64.72 points, the weighted index by 0.83 and the KSX-15 index by 0.8 percent, a report by the First Securities Brokerage Company, also known as Oula Wasata, said.
On Monday trading session, it added, the general index retreated by 85 points to close at 7,475 points, pulling downwards stocks of big and small companies.
But the market resurfaced in the following day to correct the losses of the past two days, a matter that Oula Wasata considered as "healthy." It added that domestic political developments have affected the market and the way the cash was handled within KSE thus forcing the indices to drop.
Some investors, added the report, sought to gain more grounds based on quarterly results of companies. These results, it said, encouraged investors to seek low-value stocks.
The quarterly financial results of Boubyan Bank, the National Bank of Kuwait and the Gulf Bank were encouraging for investors to head to the banking sector, which would have promising yields. (end) mka.bs