Kuwait stock exchange ends week on profit-taking

The Kuwait Stock Exchange ended its working week on Thursday with a minor drop as a result of profit-taking amid further contrast and selling pressure on larger shares. KSE's boards were a mix upon closing, as the weighted index finished at 494.96 points on a gain of 0.21 points, the price index at 7,448.44 points on a down of 5.17 points, and the KSX 15 at 1,211.68 points on a slip of 1.12 points. The day's action witnessed heavy speculation on stocks that have been rising over recent days leading to losses to main indices, with the exception of the weighted index. In spite of these drops, the general atmosphere was solid where cheaper stocks are concerned. Meanwhile, the last few hours - the last two minutes in particular, saw purchases of larger company stocks across select sectors, thus illustrating the short-term activity of several prominent dealers which reflected positively on the banking, financial and investment sectors. Also, as expected, based on the continuing moves of smaller investors, their decisions portrayed random selections based on expectation and anticipation of first quarter financial results yet to be announced by some companies - an ambiguity that is expected to continue until the last week of April. And for the third day on the trot smaller traditional stocks (of lesser value below the 100 fils-mark) continued to attract financial portfolios of giant investment groups