Hopes of recovery from Iraqi Stock Exchange (12/08/05)

"The crowds are back" lamented a young broker when asked about her predictions of market trend before the start of the Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX) trade session on 11 August. "The market will show sings of recovery" she added affirmatively. Unlike last Monday, the investor gallery of the ISX which is temporarily housed in a small building in upscale Masbah district of Baghdad was nearly full.

The market has returned to action

The two and a half hour trade session did indeed end with some signs of recovery from the spate of successive decline that characterized the market over the last four weeks. Trade volume picked up by 90 percent from an all time low, $0.68 million last session, to nearly $1.3 million. The number of shares to exchange hands grew to 373 million up by 64 percent from last session.

While the overall price index of the ISX fell one point, 2 per cent, some companies performed better then others registering a small increase.

Trade was confined to 39 company shares, out of a total of 88. Those not traded were shares of companies that are suspended because of general assembly business. Some companies, such as the Ahli Bank, Credit Bank and the United Bank have issued new shares thereby increasing their capital base. These will only resume trade after the new shares are certified by the Company Registrar. Fourteen company shares increased in value, 10 went down and 15 remained steady.

According to sources from inside the trade hall there was a big rush today on the shares of the Islamic Bank. There were 253 contracts struck for the exchange of 203 million shares. 11 August is the last session before the bank is suspended from trade because of the scheduled annual general assembly during which a decision to increase the capital base of the bank is likely to be endorsed. The stock ended up strong rising by 2.5 per cent closing at ID4.1.

The Basra Bank, Sumer Bank and the Gulf Bank also recovered rising by one percent, six percent and three percent respectively. The Middle East Investment Bank and Warka Bank lost more grounds falling by two percent and one percent.

Source: PortalIraq