ISX trades ID1.6 billion shares this week

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Iraqi Stock Exchange (ISX) this week closed at 251.468 points, trading 1.895 billion shares at a value of ID1.654 billion or $1.4 million, in 610 transactions. The ISX had lost 10 points to close at 250.5 points last week. The June 14 session saw more than 248 million shares exchanging hands at more than ID518 million, $442,000, in 124 transactions in which trading took place over the shares of five 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 industrial sector grabbing 35%, followed by the insurance sector with 20%, the investment sector with 17% and the hotel sector with 21% of the trading volume. 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. SH (S) 1