ISX up 1.2% this week despite attacks

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Iraqi Stock Exchange (ISX) index rose 1.2% to close at 94 points as trading activities exceeded seven billion Iraqi dinars this week despite the blasts that swept several areas in Baghdad on Tuesday and hostage taking inside the Our Lady of Salvation church, adjacent to the capital market building. The ISX index had risen last week by 1.6% to close at 92.8 points. “Traded shares went over 4.150 billion shares this week at more than seven billion Iraqi dinars (roughly $6 million) through 1316 deals,” according to an ISX news bulletin received by IraqiNews.com news agency. An armed group had on Sunday kept 100 people hostage inside the Sayedat al-Najah (Our Lady of Salvation) Church in Baghdad’s district of al-Karrada, close to the ISX building. Sixty people were killed and 70 others were wounded in the incident. On Tuesday, Baghdad has witnessed a series of car bombing and improvised explosive device attacks that claimed the lives of about 64 people and left 360 others wounded, according to official tallies announced by the Iraqi health ministry. The ISX witnessed its first E-trading session on April 19, 2009 over five registered companies, three banks and two hotels. The banks were: Ashur International Bank (AIB), Al-Mansour Bank and the Iraqi Credit Bank while the hotels were: Ashtar Hotel and Al-Mansour Hotel. On June 7, the Iraqi Middle East Investment Bank and the Warka Bank joined the electronic trading sessions. The ISX now holds five sessions from Sunday to Thursday. AmR (S) 2