ISX up 1.6% as trading exceeds ID7b this week

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Iraqi Stock Exchange (ISX) index rose this week by 1.6% to close at 92 points as trading activities exceeded 7 billion after demand grew over some industrial, service, hotel and insurance companies, compared to last week’s 0.3% up to close at 90.4 points. Traded shares this week hit more than 3.4 billion worth more than 7 billion Iraqi dinars (roughly $6 billion) through 2,123 deals, with Iraqi investors obtaining 318 purchase deals worth 1.212 billion dinars, nearly 17% of the overall trading, mostly over the hotel, service and industrial sectors, and 26 sale deals worth 90 million dinars, mostly over the service and industrial sectors. 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) 1