The Kuwait Stock Market plunged 1.46 percent Monday October 8, closing below the 1,600-point psychological barrier in the first day of trading after the US-led strikes on Afghanistan.
The KSE index closed at 1,579 points, down 23.5 points from Sunday. The market has been wavering around the 1,600-mark since falling below it on September 30. Investors have attributed the KSE's decline to mainly psychological factors and cautioned against any government interference in the market.
The KSE is down 10.93 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 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
