ISX trades ID1.5m shares this week, loses 10 points

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Iraqi Stock Exchange (ISX) this week lost 10 points to close at 250.5 points, trading more than one billion shares at a value of 1.532 billion Iraqi dinars (ID), or $1.2 million, in 411 transactions. The ISX had closed at 260.9 points last week, regaining seven points after registering a record high of 302 during the May 21 session. The June 7 session saw more than 129 million shares exchanging hands at more than ID246 million, $208,000, in 104 transactions in which trading took place over the shares of four joint-stock firms out of a total seven registered at the ISX. The firms are the Warka Bank for Investment & Finance, the Iraqi Middle East Bank, the Commercial Bank of Iraq (CBIQ) and the Ashtar Hotel. The ISX had witnessed the first e-trading session on April 19 over five registered companies, three banks and two hotels. The banks are the Ashur International Bank (AIB), Al-Mansour Bank and the Iraqi Credit Bank while the hotels are the Ashtar Hotel and Al-Mansour Hotel. The Iraqi capital market had announced during the June 7 session that it would launch the first e-trading session over the shares of the Iraqi Middle East Bank and the Warka Bank for Investment & Finance. The different sectors shared trading this week with the banking sector grabbing 30%, followed by the investment sector with 29%, the industrial sector with 26% and the hotel sector with 20% The ISX holds three sessions on a weekly basis: one electronic session over five joint-stock companies on Sundays and two manual trading sessions over 86 registered companies out of a total 91 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. AmR (S) 1