Iraq’s stock exchange volume falls 30% in May

The trading volume of Iraq stock exchange (ISX) fell 30 percent in May to $46.7 million compared to the previous month.

The banking sector had the highest share in trading volume with 81.2 percent, followed by the telecoms sector with a 6.2 percent share.

“The month witnessed a high volume of cross transactions in the banking sector. Foreigners’ share in total trading volume decreased from 4.0% in April to 3.5% in May.” Ayşegül Özge Özgür, SVP, Head of Research at Rabee Securities, said.

“In May, Rabee Securities RSISX Index decreased by 5.7%, mainly due to the dividend distribution of Asiacell, a major component of the RSISX Index, and Eid Al Fitr holidays. The index is still up 2.0% for the year”.

Two companies decided to distribute profits during May; Asiacell (dividend yield: 11.8 percent) and Mamoura Real Estate Investment (dividend yield: 2.0 percent).

Seventeen companies’ share prices edged up in May, of which 11 of them increased more than 5 percent; Ashour Hotel shares jumped by more than 30.0 percent during the month.