Kuwait shares end week at new high

The Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) Index cruised past the 13,000 points for the first time on Sunday and stayed above the mark despite some pressure from profit-taking sales, brokers said.

The KSE Index finished trading at 13,079.00 points, up 0.8 percent from last week’s close of 12,977.20 points.

The index, which ended last year down 12 percent due to a long correction, is now 29.9 percent above its 2006 close of 10,067.40 points.

Economists and traders have attributed the steady rise in the index to abundant liquidity thanks to record oil revenues that have boosted public spending to unprecedented high levels.

The index was also supported by signs of positive financial results for the first nine months.

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), the second largest firm on the bourse, announced Wednesday record nine-month profits of 787.5 million dollars, up 16 percent on the corresponding period of last year.

Oil-rich Kuwait has amassed a huge windfall from oil revenues during the past seven fiscal years. On March 31, its assets stood at 213 billion dollars, invested mostly overseas.

The new record was set despite a war of words between a group of leading investors and the bourse management over a number of decisions and regulations taken by the bourse over the past months.

The KSE lists 192 Kuwaiti and foreign firms and has a capitalisation of about 215 billion dollars. It is the second-largest Arab bourse after the Saudi market.