Fuelled by expectations of the imminent opening of the hitherto closed doors of the ISX to non Iraqi investors, the market continued its upward surge for the eleventh trade session this month

ISX, trading against all odds, September 09 2007

On a trade day marked by the absence of brokers who could not make it to the east side of Baghdad where the headquarters and the trade hall of the Iraq Stock Exchange are located, business was minimal leading to a slide down in the number of contracts, value of trade and the number of shares traded. For one security reason or another most of the bridges linking the east and west sides of Baghdad were closed this morning. Brokers who live on the west side of Baghdad, Karkh, were not able to make it to the ISX situated in the commercial part of town east of the river Tigris.

Prices nevertheless were firm despite the explained plunge in volume. The number of shares to exchange hand was down by 33% to 340 million well below the average seen during 2007. There are some 813 billion shares outstanding issued by the 94 private companies listed in the exchange. The number of transactions was likewise down by 34% to 184 contracts. In addition to security constraints, trade in the exchange is limited by the manual system trade still in operation. All this is to change soon with the launch of a multi-dollar automated trade system funded by US aid. The total value of traded stocks slipped to $0.42 million, or ID 520 million.

	current session	previous session	%change
Market Volume Traded (shares million)	339.99	510.97	-33.46
Market Value Traded (ID m)	529.37	800.48	-33.87
Market Capitalization (ID billon)	1993.07	1995.23	-0.11
Number of Transaction	184	253	-27.27

Market Value Traded ($m)	0.4201	0.63530	-33.87
Market Capitalization ($billon)	1.582	1.58	-0.11

The stocks of 12 private banks listed in the exchange were traded. The price of only two stocks, those of Warkaa Bank and the Ahli Bank, went down. The former closed the trade session at ID1.55 down by 3% and the latter at ID by 8%. Banks with gains today include each of the Islamic Bank and Sumer Bank, each gaining 5%, and the North Bank 2.5%. The number of shares traded was 305 million. This is extremely low given that the listed banks have a total number of outstanding shares equal to 606 billion. Nevertheless, today’s trade in banking shares still composed nearly 90% of the total volume of trade in terms of value. Total value of all trade was equal to ID529 million of which ID474 million was in banking. There was little change in the market capitalization value of listed banks estimated to be equal to ID 1472 million or the equivalent of $1,168 million dollars.

Market Breadth
Advancers	8
Decliners	11
Unchanged	12
Total Traded	31
Total not Traded	63
Total	94

DISCLAIMER: This document has been compiled and issued by Kubba Consultants, which has obtained the information from sources it believes to be reliable, but Kubba Consultants makes no guarantee as to either its accuracy or completeness and has not carried out an independent verification. Kubba Consultants accepts no responsibility or liability for losses or damages incurred as a result of opinions formed and decisions made based on information presented in this report. This document is not an offer to sell or solicitation to buy any securities. The opinions and estimates expressed herein are those of the issuer.