KSE indices in green zone last week - report

KUWAIT, April 18 (KUNA) -- The three indices of the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) made gains last week thanks to optimism over the approval of amendments to the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) law, a report said on Saturday.
The state of optimism that prevailed over the previous week boosted buying momentum and increased liquidity, the latest report by Bayan Investment said. The indices' gains were attributed to a buying wave over most of the week's sessions.
Buyers mainly targeted blue chips and banking shares, following the announcement of positive results for the first quarter of the year, the report added. Optimism had a special effect on the KSE 15 benchmark index, that was the highest by the end of the trading week, compared to the Price and Weighted Indices.
However, the market still suffers some problems that require immediate remedy, the Bayan report said, referring to a "phenomenon" among listed companies that prefer optional withdrawal, amid a retreat of trading levels and weakness of the investment environment.
This last reason is likely to lead to a decline of market value and liquidity levels as well as reducing the number of listed companies.
The KSE enjoyed a buyers' support concentrating on heavy and operational shares, led by the banking sector, yet it suffered from profit-taking that focused on small and medium stocks, in particular those that realized mixed gains.
Market capitalization by the end of the week hit KD 27.90 billion, marking a rise of about 2.3 percent compared to KD 27.28 billion a week before. (1 KWD = USD 3.3). (end) mka.hb.msa