The Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) shed another 1.05 percent Monday, October 2, closing below the 1,600-point psychological barrier for the second day running. The KSE index closed at 1,583 points, losing 16.9 points after Sunday's drop of 12.6 points.
"Nothing major is wrong with the market," leading economist Jassim Al-Saadun insisted. "The implications of lower oil prices is one factor since their decline might instill doubt in the future of the local economy," he told AFP.
"But this isn't the whole story ... It's very much psychological" and there are some local factors at play, he added. "I don't think the government should interfere in the market. Leave it alone and it will correct itself," Saadun said.
The KSE is down 10.7 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 the 1,700-point barrier 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)
