The Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) closed the week flat in what investors described as reduced activity ahead of Ramadan and continued uncertainty over oil prices and international events.
The KSE index closed at 1,629 points, a gaining of only 0.8 points, after last week's steady climb ahead of the Muslim fasting month, which will start over the weekend. The index is up 20.8 percent on the year but down 42.5 percent on its all-time high of November 1997.
"Investors are waiting for Ramadan when there's less activity and when prices are likely to drop," said one investor. Trading on the KSE during Ramadan will be reduced to two from four hours per day. "There is still a lot of uncertainty in the market. People are concerned about whether Iraq will be the next target after Afghanistan, so they're waiting for something to happen," he told AFP.
"OPEC's lack of any decision has also affected the market and investors are expecting oil prices to keep falling," he added. After the market closed, the OPEC oil cartel meeting in Vienna agreed to slash output by at least one million barrels per day (bpd) to boost sagging crude prices, despite failing to win immediate support from key non-OPEC producer Russia.
The KSE, which has lost 8.1 percent since the September 11 terror attacks, 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)
