Iraqi Stock Exchange closes with 6th fall

BAGHDAD/IraqiNews.com: Iraqi stock exchange (ISX) index closed with 0.047% drop on Thursday, recording the sixth fall this week, which investors attributed to the discord among Iraqi factions over U.S.-Iraq security pact. The ISX index decreased by 0.047% on Thursday to reach 50.317 points after the last session registered 1.987%, closing at 50.341 Traded shares in this week exceeded 601 million at a total value of over 916 billion Iraqi dinars (nearly $ 776.3 million) through implementing 234 contracts. “The stock exchange fall through the past two week took place due to security concerns,” Salman Hassan, Secretary General for Economic Development Union, told IraqiNews.com. “The past period saw security deteriorations events along with debates over the Iraq-U.S. security pact,” he noted. Trading for Non-Iraqi investors exceeded 546 million dinars (nearly $462.000), through implementing 234 contracts in banking, industrial and hotels sectors. The banking sector achieved the highest trading volume Share prices on Iraq’s stock exchange plummeted during the years of sectarian warfare after the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Investors say visiting the bourse was almost impossible when armed groups ruled the streets. But violence has fallen to four-year lows. Baghdad’s stock index jumped a year ago when the fall in violence was most pronounced, and has zoomed again in recent weeks as investors eye a reconstruction bonanza fuelled by huge oil revenues. AM(S) 1